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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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ScMices 
Corporation 


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et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  n^cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m6thode. 


1 

2 

3 

1  2  3 

4  5  6 


4^ 


OUR    CHILDREN 

IN   OLD   SCOTLAND 
AND   NOVA   SCOTIA 


WITH   SEQUEL 

BEING     A     HISTORY    OF     HER    WORK 

BY 

EMMA    M.  STIRLING 

THE    FOUNDER    OF 

THE    EDINBURGH    AND     LEITH     CHIL- 
DREN'S    AID     AND     REFUGE     SOCIETY 

Founded  1877 


C.   N.    SPEAKMAN 

COATESVILLE,    PENNA. 


/,      1    ■       :' 
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LIPPING OTT     PRBSS 


PREFACE. 


The  first  edition  of  this  little  book  was  published 
in   1892,  and  met  with  a  cordial  welcome  from  the 
friends  of  "  Our  Children"  on  both  sides  of  the  At- 
lantic ;  so  that  comparatively  few  copies  were  left  on 
hand  in  April,  1895;  but  such  as  remained  shared  the 
fate  of  all  my  other  books  and  effects  in  the  terrible 
fire  of  that  date.     Thus  I  have  been  unable  since  then 
to  meet  the  request  of  many  friends  who  wished  to 
obtain  a  copy  of  "  Our  Children"  and  the  sequel  to 
the  story  of  my  work  for  thern  in  Nova  Scotia.     To 
gratify  this  request  I  have  reprinted  the  original  vol- 
ume, and  continued  the   narrative   to    1898,  by  in- 
cluding in  this  edition  two  small  pamphlets  written 
in  1893  and  1897  respectively;  which  tell  their  own 
story,  and  fully  explain  the  circumstances  by  which  I 
was  led  most  univillingly  to  relinquish  my  lifework  for 
"  Our  Children"  in  Nova  Scotia. 

Emma  M.  Stirling. 


Drumpellier,  Coatesville,  Pennsylvania. 
November,  1898. 


THE   CRY   OF   THE   CHILDREN. 


Hut  the  youn^,  young  children,  O  my  brothers. 

They  are  weeping  bitterly  ! 
They  are  weeping  in  the  playtime  of  the  others, 

In  the  country  of  the  free. 

*  ^  *  M- 

And  well  may  the  children  weep  before  you, 

They  are  weary  ere  they  run, 
They  have  never  seen  the  sunshine  nor  the  glory 

Which  is  brighter  than  the  sun. 
They  know  the  grief  of  man  without  its  wisdom  ; 

They  sink  in  man's  despair  without  its  calm  ; 
Are  slaves  without  the  liberty  of  Christendom, 

Are  martyrs,  by  the  pang  without  the  balm, 
Are  worn  as  if  with  age.     Yet  unretrievingly 

The  harvest  of  its  memories  cannot  reap— 
Are  orphans  of  the  earthly  love  and  heavenly. 

Let  them  weep  !     Let  them  weep  ! 

Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 

OUR   CHILDREN   IN   OLD   SCOTLAND. 

1877    TO    1886. 

CHAPTER    I. 
Fisher  Children  at  St.  Andrews 


PAGB 
13 


CHAPTER    II. 
Day  Nursery  Children  in  EDiNHirR(;H      .        .         .     18 

CHAPTER    III. 

Progress   of   the  Work   for  Various   Classes    of 
Children 


22 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Prevention  of   Cruelty  Cases   of    Rescued  Ch 
dren 


IL- 


33 


CHAPTER    V. 


German  Children 


37 


8 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   VI 
Homes  for  Homkless  Children 


•         t 


PACE 
.        48 


CHAPTER   VII. 
Flower  Mission  Children 


•  • 


•  • 


52 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


Coffee-houses 


60 


PART  II. 


OUA   CHILDREN  IN   NOVA  SCOTIA. 


886  TO   1892. 


CHAPTER    IX. 
How  they  Got  There 


69 


CHAPTER    X. 
What  th£y  Did  on  Landing  There 


«  • 


76 


CHAPTER   XI. 
What  we  Did  in  1887-8     .        , 


84 


1 


CONTENl'S. 

CIIAPTKK    XII. 
Various  Events  in   .889-90 

cii  ai'tj: K  xni. 

OUK    Mll.r,    AND    WOKKSHOI'S 


•         • 


•         > 


CHAPTER   XIV. 
OitK  Children  at  Homk  and  Aiikoad 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Tmk  Last  Two  Years 

CHAPTER   XVI. 
What  wk  Hoi'e  to  do 

•  •  • 

CHAPTER   XVII. 
Temperance  Work 


•         • 


•         • 


PAr.B 
92 


.    lOI 


105 


120 


•  • 


124 


127 


PART  HI. 

HISTORY    OF    MY    TROUBLES. 
1893. 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 
Incidents  in  the  Work 


131 


lO 


CONTENTS 


PART  IV. 
A    STRANGE   TALE   OF   EVANGELINE'S   LAND. 

1895. 


1895 


CHAPTER   XIX. 


PAGB 


PART  V. 


HAPPY   RESULTS. 


CHAPTER    XX. 
Happy  Results igj 


PART   I. 


OUR  CHILDREN  IN  OLD  SCOTLAND. 


II 


fv 


OUR    CHILDREN 


IN 


OLD    SCOTLAND    AND    NOVA    SCOTIA. 


CHAPTER    I. 


FISHER   CHILDREN    AT   ST.    ANDREWS. 


When  1  was  a  little  girl,  my  home  was  in  a  large 
old-fashioned  house  close  to  the  ruins  of  the  Cathedral 
at  St.  Andrews  (Scotland).  It  was  a  picturesque  old 
place,  standing  in  its  own  courtyard  and  garden,  which 
were  surrounded  by  high  walls.  These  were  our  only 
defence  against  the  inroads  of  our  somewhat  trouble- 
some neighbours  "  the  Fishers,"  whose  dilapidated 
dwellings  formed  at  that  time  the  east  end  of  North 
Street,  except  where  the  line  was  filled  up  by  our 
stretch  of  high  walls.  From  our  upper  windows  I  had 
ample  opportunity  of  observing  the  doings,  and  com- 
passionating the  misery  of  swarms  of  the  fisher  chil- 
dren, the  dilapidation  of  whose  clothing  was  only 
rivalled  by  that  of  their  dwellings.  Our  chief  meeting- 
place,  however,  was  the  open  sunny  space  between  our 
gate  and  the  Cathedral,  which  was  the  favourite  play- 

13 


as 


14 


OUR    CHILDREN. 


ground  of  our  troublesome  neighbours.  Our  gate 
itself  was  a  curiosity,  for  over  it  were  the  Douglas 
arms — the  bleeding  heart — and,  if  it  could  have  spoken, 
might  have  told  many  a  tale  of  all  who  had  come  and 
gone  beneath  its  arch,  since  the  days  of  its  original 
possessor,  the  celebrated  Gawaine  Douglas,  Bishop  of 
Dunkeld,  and  Dean  of  St.  Andrews,  before  the  Refor- 
mation days — whose  mother  is  credited  with  lack  of 
ambition  for  her  son's  education  in  the  following 
distich : — 

"  Thank  Heaven,  ne'er  a  son  of  mine 
But  Gawaine  e'er  could  pen  a  line." 

While  the  fisher  children  took  their  noisy  pleasure 
in  the  open  space  aforesaid,  our  favourite  playground 
was  within  the  precincts  of  the  ruined  Cathedral, 
where  my  brother  and  I  played  happily  many  a 
summer's  day  beside  an  old  and  highly  respected 
friend,  who  united  in  his  own  person  the  functions  of 
custodian  to  the  Cathedral,  and  factotum  to  my 
father.  So  it  came  to  pass  that  in  our  baby  days  our 
favourite  stories  were  told  us  by  David  (about  the 
Protestant  Martyrs  and  John  Knox),  with  certain 
gruesome  details  which  we  were  enabled  to  realize 
more  vividly  by  an  occasional  visit  to  the  neighbour- 
ing Castle,  with  the  window  still  remaining  where  Car- 
dinal Beatoun  looked  out  at  the  spectacle  of  George 
Wishart  burning  in  front  of  the  Castle  gate,  and  at 


1 

F/SNEK  CHILD  KEN  AT  ST.   ANDREWS. 

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which  window  he  himself  speedily  met  with  the  retri- 
bution due.  We  would  then  cross  the  Castle  yard,  and 
with  fear  and  trembling  look  down  into  "  the  Bottle,"  * 
in  which  so  many  victims  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny  were 
immured  until  death  put  an  end  to  their  sufferings. 
Who  can  wonder  that  I  grew  up  a  staunch  Protestant  ? 
So  matters  went  on  until  I  was  about  twelve  years 
old,  and  one  of  my  brothers,  a  young  soldier,  came 
home  from  abroad,  deeply  impressed  with  the  impor- 
tance of  eternal  things,  who  lost  no  time  in  speaking 
to  me  about  my  soul,  and  the  need  of  salvation,  and 
the  ingratitude  and  heartlessness  of  going  on  neglect- 
ing such  a  Friend  as  our  Saviour;  but  I  sturdily  re- 
sisted all  such  appeals  with  all  the  little  strength  and 
obstinacy  of  twelve  years  old.  A  short  time  after  this 
a  dear  elder  sister,  thirteen  years  older  than  I  was, 
who  had  been  for  long  in  delicate  health,  was  called 
by  the  Lord  in  a  very  remarkable  way,  and  having 
found  peace  in  believing  Him,  naturally  at  once  tried 
to  lead  me  to  Him  too,  but  as  it  seemed  without  suc- 
cess.    The  effort  did  not  last  long,  for  she  was  sum- 

»  This  vault  or  dungeon  is  what  is  known  as  an  Oubliette, 
of  which  there  are  few  now  extant,  but  in  the  dark  ages  it 
was  a  common  instrument  of  cruelty.  It  was  of  considerable 
size  and  very  deep,  and  in  shape  exactly  like  a  great  bottle, 
with  no  aperture  save  the  narrow  neck,  down  which  the  vic- 
tims were  lowered  by  chains,  in  all  probability  never  to  return 
to  the  light  of  day. 


iil 


i6 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


moned  to  leave  earth  for  heaven  just  a  fortnight  after 
her  conversion,  and  died  after  a  few  days'  illness,  re- 
joicing in  her  newly  found  Saviour,  but  not  before  she 
had  spoken  many  loving  and  earnest  words  to  me, 
and  induced  me  to  read  to  her  constantly,  during  her 
illness,  from  her  little  Testament  she  now  found  so 
precious,  that  she  could  not  do  without  frequent  refer- 
ence to  it.  But  it  was  not  until  the  day  after  her  death 
that  I  took  refuge  in  the  Testament  too,  and  in  the 
17th  chapter  of  St.  John  found  the  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  and  before  the  sun  set  that  evening,  was 
rejoicing  in  Him  who  thus  called  me  out  of  darkness 
into  His  marvellous  light.  It  is  a  long  time  ago  now, 
but  He  has  never  failed  me  since,  and  I  believe  soon 
began  to  use  the  child  He  called  then,  as  a  means  of 
helping  other  children. 

As  soon  as  the  Lord  had  thus  brought  me  to  Him- 
self, He  made  me  wish  to  Ho  something  for  Him,  and 
the  people  most  within  my  reach  were  the  fisher  chil- 
dren in  the  adjoining  street.  These  now  became  the 
object  of  my  life,  and  to  prove  the  sincerity  of  my  in- 
terest, I  may  mention,  it  overcame  my  former  hatred 
of  plain  sewing,  and  one  of  my  great  pleasures  was  to 
make  what  I  could,  in  the  way  of  clothes,  for  them. 
When  I  was  old  enough  to  undertake  the  duties,  I 
was  permitted,  to  my  great  delight,  to  become  a  visitor 
at  the  Fishers'  School  close  by,  where  I  worked  first 
as  a  visitor,  and  afterwards  as  hon.  sec,  for  about  four- 


I  t 


FISHER  CHILDREN  AT  ST.  ANDREWS. 


17 


teen  years,  until  disabled  by  the  accident  which  laid 
me  on  the  sofa  for  nearly  six  years,  and  from  the 
effects  of  which  I  have  never  entirely  recovered. 

In  1876  I  had  gone  to  live  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Edinburgh,  the  result  of  turning  a  corner  in  my  life, 
when  by  my  mother's  death,  my  old  home  had  been 
broken  up. 

I  was  somewhat  of  an  invalid,  having  been,  as  I 
said,  lamed  by  an  accident  six  years  before,  and  this, 
I  think,  has  been  the  secret  of  my  desire  to  save 
young  children  from  like  suffering,  and  possibly  of 
my  knowing  how  to  nurse  them  when  in  pain.  I  was 
a  good  deal  alone  in  the  world,  felt  my  weakness 
keenly,  and  often  wondered  whether  I  would  ever 
again  be  of  any  use.  I  often  asked  God  to  give  me 
something  to  do  for  Him.  I  could  not*  help  it.  It  is 
so  sad  to  feel  of  no  use. 


CHAPTER    II. 


DAY   NURSERY   CHILDREN    IN    EDINBURGH. 


In  the  autumn  of  1876  a  friend  told  me  she  had 
been  shocked  by  the  fearful  stories  she  had  heard  of 
the  ill-usage  of  young  children  in  Edinburgh,  some 
of  which  she  related.  The  result  was  that  I  opened 
a  Day  Nursery  early  in  1877,  where  mothers  who 
worked  out  during  the  day  could  bring  their  babies 
and  little  children  below  seven  years  of  age,  and 
by  paying  a  very  small  sum,  leave  them  to  be  well 
taken  care  of  till  night. 

A  fc.v  came  at  first,  but  by  degrees  the  Nursery 
increased,  and  the  children  grew  and  throve.  I  could 
not  pay  for  much  help,  and  had  to  be  practically  head 
nurse  myself  For  this  end  I  spent  the  greater  part 
of  my  days  there,  only  going  home  to  sleep.  The 
work  was  hard,  but  most  interesting  from  a  mission- 
ary point  of  view,  as  in  living  the  life  and  sharing  the 
burden  of  the  very  poor,  it  gave  one  the  opportunity 
of  speaking  words  for  Jesus  which  at  a  greater  dis- 
tance are  either  more  apt  to  remain  unsaid,  or  are 
less  likely  to  be  listened  to.     As  you  may  suppose, 

the  demands   of  so  many  hungry  and   often   fretful 
18 


D/iV  XUKSEKY  CIIILDREX  IN  EDIXBURGIL      19 

little  children  were  incessant.  The  daily  attendances, 
when  reckoned  up  at  the  year's  end,  numbered  by 
the  thousand.  How  well  I  remember  often  sitting  on 
a  "  creepie"  (Anglice,  loiv  stool)  with  seven  infants 
round  me  on  the  floor,  waiting  for  me  to  feed  them  turn 
about !  All  our  arrangements  were  of  an  equally  primi- 
tive description,  which  I  discovered  commended  them- 
selves greatly  to  the  hard-working  mothers  who  took 
advantage  of  my  invitation.  It  will  be  '^een  we  made 
no  attempt  to  pose  as  a  highly  drilled  institution. 

The  offer  I  made  in  return  for  2d.  a  day  was  a  warm 
house,  three  meals  a  day  and  a  piece  for  those  who 
had  teeth  to  eat  with.  For  the  bottle  babies  I  pro- 
vided the  best  milk  I  could  get,  and  an  unlimited 
supply  of  crusts  and  drinks  of  milk  for  the  teething 
children.  Some  friends  used  to  shake  their  heads 
gently  and  murmur,  "  Irregularity."  But  the  proof 
of  the  pudding  was  literally  in  the  eating,  and  the 
starving  mites  grew  fat  and  even  rosy.  The  great 
difficulty  was  in  the  nursing  required.  Babies  will 
not  do  unless  they  are  kept  cheerful,  and  I  strongly 
objected  to  their  being  left  lying  in  bed  for  the  sake 
of  convenience.  But  we  did  our  best ;  and  I  employed 
a  certain  number  of  motherless  girls,  who,  with  good 
looking  after,  made  very  efficient  nurses.  We  had  a 
good  many  cradles  and  swing  cots,  and  I  had  a  won- 
derful chair,  in  which  I  could  nurse  five  little  ones  at 
a  time.     Added  to  these  advantages,  we  had  a  large 


*! 


30 


OUR  CHlT.nRh!^. 


and  perfectly  safe  playground,  with  good-sized  trees 
in  it,  and  a  steep  bank  to  run  up  and  down,  which 
was  an  endless  delight  to  our  children.  It  was  care- 
fully fenced  from  the  street  at  one  side,  from  our 
neighbours'  gardens  on  the  other  and  top  of  the  bank, 
also  from  the  mill  dam  at  the  bottom,  which  was  a 
greater  source  of  anxiety,  as  this  was  believed  to  be 
more  dangerous  than  the  Water  of  Leith  running  just 
below.  Many  a  decent  mother  has  thanked  me  for 
this  "  more  than  anything.  Just  to  keep  the  bairns 
off  the  street." 

I  think  I  loved  the  old  Nursery  better  than  any  of 
the  Homes,  for  I  spent  so  many  of  the  early  days  of 
the  work  there,  and  learnt  so  many  hard  lessons  con- 
cerning the  children  of  the  poor. 

This  is  a  cheerful  picture,  but  of  course  there  were 
very  black  shadows  too,  in  having  to  see  in  so  many 
cases  the  children  suffer  for  the  mother's  fault,  even 
to  the  extent  of  poor  innocent  little  babies  being 
poisoned  by  whisky ! 

I  often  think  what  a  wonderful  result  has,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  grown  out  of  the  seed  planted  at  the 
Stockbridge  Day  Nursery.  It  is  now  a  big  family 
tree,  whose  branches  have  spread  beyond  the  sea, 
where  active  and  capable  young  men  and  maidens  are 
carving  out  their  own  fortunes,  and  making  homes  for 
themselves  in  the  New  World,  followed  in  their  turn 
by  bright,  bonny  boys  and  girls,  who  were  brought  as 


\  trees 

which 

5  care- 

m  our 

2  bank, 
was  a 

I  to  be 

ng  just 

me  for 

bairns 

I  any  of 
days  of 
»ns  con- 
re  were 

3  many 
It,  even 
s  being 

by  the 
d  at  the 
:  family 
he  sea, 
ens  are 
mes  for 
ir  turn 
•ught  as 


DAY  NURSERY  CHILDREN  IN  EDINIWRCII.      a  I 

babies  in  arms,  or  very  little  children,  just  able  to 
toddle  in  and  out  after  one,  like  a  flock  of  ducks, 
whose  greatest  pleasure  was  "a  dirt  pie,"  and  greatest 
grief  to  be  inadvertently  left  behind  when  the  rest  of 
the  family  had  adjourned  to  have  dinner  in  the  kitchen. 
Now  they  are  earning  their  own  living ;  and  it  is  but 
fair  to  them  to  say  I  have  had  no  reason  to  be  ashamed 
of  them. 

One  of  my  greatest  pleasures  in  looking  back  to 
the  old  nursery  days  is  the  recollection  of  the  pleas- 
ant and  affectionate  intercourse  with  Miss  Auld,  who 
was  so  true  and  kind  a  friend  to  me  and  our  children 
all  through  those  years  of  (it  must  be  confessed  !)  the 
anxiety  and  drudgery  of  Day  Nursery  work.  How 
she  came  in  all  weathers  to  look  after  us  and  see  we 
had  all  we  needed  in  the  way  of  housekeeping ;  how 
she  cheered  us  up  by  taking  the  best  view  of  every- 
thing, coaxed  the  bairns  with  sweeties — I  always  said 
it  made  me  jealous,  but  I  did  not  think  it — how  she 
controlled  rebellious  and  provoking  girls,  kept  up  the 
spirits  of  the  nurse,  conducted  mothers'  meetings  once 
a  week,  and  scolded  me  roundly  for  my  imprudence 
in  various  directions  and  not  taking  care  of  my  health ! 
I  v/ish  I  had  her  here  now,  that  is  all  I  can  say.  I 
had  many  other  kind  helpers  in  the  lady  visitors  too, 
but  as  the  object  of  their  being  there  was  to  give  me 
time  for  other  things,  I  saw  less  of  them,  though  I 
was  most  grateful  to  them  all  the  same. 


CMAPTKR    III. 


W^ 


« 


rKOGKliSS   UF   THK   WOKK    FoK    VARIOUS   CLASSKS    OF 

CHILDREN. 

A  FKW  months  after  I  began  the  Day  Nursery  work 
I  felt  constrained  to  open  a  home  in  the  autumn  of 
1877,  as  I  found  so  many  children  who  had  no  home 
to  go  to  at  night,  unless  the  common  lodging-house 
could  be  called  so,  and  so  many  others  brought  by 
fathers,  the  mother  having  died  and  left  the  poor 
things  to  the  care  of  the  even  more-to-bc-piticd  man, 
who  had  now  to  be  father  and  mother  and  all.  Need 
I  say  it  likewise  grew  ? 

At  this  time,  1878,  I  consented  to  have  a  Board  of 
Directors.  When  I  accepted  their  co-operation,  I 
kept  in  my  own  hands  three  items : — 

1.  Provision  and  amount  of  food. 

2.  Entire  control  of  the  servants. 

3.  Admission  of  cases. 

This  I  thought  fair  and  reasonable,  as  I  had  under- 
taken to  be  responsible  for  the  expenses  of  the  Insti- 
tution. 

Then  a  terrible  class  of  little  sufferers  was  brought 

to   me — the   inmates   of  baby   farms.     These   I   was 
22 


PROGRESS  OF  WORK  FOR  VARIOUS  CLASSES. 


23 


enabled  to  protect  efficiently  by  the  help  of  the 
police,  and  many  were  rescued. 

But  there  was  a  class  even  beyond  these,  more 
miincrous  and  varied  in  bitter  experience,  as  well  as 
in  aj;e;  for  when  does  the  drunkard's  child,  even  the 
half-fjrovvn  boy  or  girl,  cease  to  be  the  victim  of  its 
parent's  sin  ? 

Many  and  harrowing  were  the  cases  for  which  my 
help  was  asked  from  all  quarters,  and  in  an  extraor- 
dinary variety  of  circumstances.  Sometimes  he^p 
was  needed  only  for  u  limited  period ;  sometimes, 
until  in  a  year  or  two,  I  could  put  the  boy  or  girl  in 
the  way  of  doing  for  themselves.  More  frequently 
the  little  ones  were  left  a  burden  on  my  hands  alto- 
gether, until  at  last  I  had,  for  a  long  time  before  I 
left  Scotland,  300  children  to  feed  every  day,  to  say 
nothing  of  clothing  and  education ;  and  as  all  my 
Home  children  went  to  the  public  schools,  the  school- 
fees  were  a  heavy  item. 

Thus  the  Home,  once  started,  grew  rapidly ;  first 
one  house  was  opened,  then  another,  till  in  1883  I 
had  Homes  for  girls  and  little  ones  at  11,  Mackenzie 
Place,  Stockbridge,  Edinburgh ;  2,  Craigholm  Cres- 
cent, Burntisland,  Fife;  for  boys,  at  i,  Craigholm 
Crescent,  Burntisland ;  and  4,  Bayton  Terrace,  Gran- 
ton,  near  Edinburgh,  Three  of  these  were  arranged 
to  accommodate  twenty-five  children  in  each,  besides 
two  or  three  older   girls  as  workers,  and    we   often 


24 


OUR   CHILDREN, 


had  to  stretch  a  bit  when  those  pleading  for  admis- 
sion could  not  wait  in  cold,  hunger  and  nakedness 
till  some  other  had  been  provided  for.  At  Bayton 
Terrace  we  tried  to  keep  to  eight  boys. 

I  lived  on  both  sides  of  the  Forth,  and  my  own 
houses,  Merleton,  Wardie,  and  i6,  Craigholm  Crescent, 
Burntisland,  had  many  occupants,  little  ones,  delicate 
children,  or  those  requiring  special  protection  from 
cruelty.  I  may  mention  that  my  servants,  except 
the  housekeepers,  were  all  taken  from  the  elder  girls 
who  had  behaved  well  enough  to  deserve  such  pro- 
motion. 

At  this  time  I  can  well  remember  many  a  winter's 
night,  when  having  Stockbridge  at  8.30,  after  a  hard 
day's  work,  when  very  pressing  applications  had  been 
made  and  sifted  for  admission  to  the  Mackenzie  Place 
Home,  I  had  to  take  two  or  three  of  the  improved 
inmates  from  Stockbridge  Home  to  Wardie  with  me, 
in  order  to  leave  room  in  the  beds  for  the  perishing 
,  little  new-comers.  Do  you  blame  me?  What  else 
could  I  do?  Cor  id  I  have  gone  home  ^^  .y/^^/,  and 
know  I  had  left  little  children  to  perish, — the  little 
children  whom  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  told  us  all  to 
receive  in  His  name  ? 

I  was  careful  only  to  admit  children  who  were  either 
victims  of  cruelty  or  really  homeless,  and  without  the 
necessaries  of  life;  though,  strange  to  say,  from  mis- 
fortune (too  common  at  that  time  of  general  depression 


FA'OGA'ESS  OF  WORK  FOR  VARIOUS  CLASSES.        25 


ither 
the 
imis- 
Ssion 


and  want  of  work,  consequent  on  the  commercial 
crisis)  many  became  destitute,  whose  parents  had 
been  respectable  and  well-to-do  people.  But  I  never, 
that  Tknmuof,  refused  to  admit  a  single  destitute  or 
cruelly  treated  child  or  young  person,  though  I  have 
refused  hundreds  of  cases  of  mere  convenience! 

In  1880  the  work  had  attracted  a  good  deal  of 
public  attention  and  a  good  deal  of  criticism ;  and 
when  the  British  Association  met  in  Edinburgh,  in 
October  of  that  year,  it  was  made  the  subject  of  dis- 
cussion, introduced  by  our  Chairman,  Mr.  Colston, 
which  provoked  most  decided  and,  it  seemed  to  me, 
most  unjust  opposition.  I  had  been  previously  invited 
to  read  a  paper  on  Day  Nursery*  work,  and  the  help 
and  protection  necessary  for  little  and  innocent  chil- 
dren, unsuited  by  their  age  and  lacj<  of  even  petty 
crimes  for  Industrial  Schools.  I  took  the  opportunity 
of  pleading  the  cause  of  little  children,  whose  only 
crime  was  their  poverty,  as  earnestly  as  I  could,  and 
was  listened  to  with  much  sympath}^  by  many  people, 
with  amusement  by  others.  At  the  close  of  my  appeal 
a  gentleman  standing  in  one  of  the  passages  asked  for 
leave  to  join  in  the  discussion,  and  made  a  most  touch- 
ing and  eloquent  speech  in  defence  (much  to  my 
joy  and  relief)  of  the  cause  of  little  innocent  children, 
am  certain,  turned  the  tide 


speech, 


publi 


opinion  in  Edinburgh,  and  the  speaker  was  J.  H.  A. 
M-'^donald,  Esq.,  then  Sheriff  of  Perthshire  afterwards 


cf; 


,i      Sil 


5 


26 


OUR    CHILDREN, 


the  Lord  Advocate,  and  now  Lord  Kiiigsburgh,  the 
Lord  Justice  Clerk  of  Scotland. 

Here  1  may  remark  that  in  opening  all  these  houses 
since  1878  I  always  sought  the  advice  of  the  directors 
in  every  important  matter,  and  when  they  failed  to 
attend  the  meetings  to  which  they  were  regularly 
summoned,  I  frequently  went  to  them  ?X  other  times. 
Thus,  in  December,  1884,  I  added  the  Shelter  from 
Cruelty,  150,  High  Street,  to  the  list  of  houses,  the 
reason  for  this  being,  I  had  found  it  necessary  to 
receive  so  many  children  requiring  special  protection 
from  cruelty  at  Merleton,  Wardie;  and  as  this  ^.vas 
extremely  inconvenient  to  myself  and  my  household, 
I  thought  it  better  to  incur  the  expense  of  another 
house  somewhere  near  the  Police  Office.  Besides,  it 
was  extremely  desirable  to  have  a  kind  of  test-house 
through  which  doubtful  children  could  pass  on  their 
way  to  the  Home. 

At  this  time  there  was  an  idea  of  some  other 
friends  beginning  a  new  society  for  the  same  end,  i.e. 
of  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children,  but  finding  how 
fully  the  Edinburgh  and  Leith  Children's  Aid  and 
Refuge  (which  was  the  name  itoiv  given  to  this  work) 
occupied  the  ground,  these  friends  thought  it  better 
to  join  us  and  all  work  together. 

In  May,  1885,  we  were  greatly  cheered  and  encour- 
aged when  the  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  w'^o  was  at  that 
time  Lord  High  Commissioner,  did  us  the  honour  to 


mOGRESS  OF  WORK  FOR  VARIOUS  CLASSES.        27 

visit  the  Shelter  from  Cruelty  on  his  way  from  the 
General  Assembly,  accompanied  by  the  Countess  of 
Aberde<*n,  the  Dowager  Countess  of  Aberdeen,  and 
members  of  the  suite.  His  lordship,  who  was  patron 
of  the  original  society,  expressed  his  satisfaction  with 
the  arrangements,  and  especially  commended  the 
manners  and  appearance  of  the  children  whom  I  had 
brought  from  the  Homes  for  his  inspection.  The 
ladies  also  were  most  kind  and  cordial  in  their  ap- 
proval and  sympathy  with  the  work  carried  on  in  the 
prevention  of  cnielty  to  children. 

That  day  I  received  a  request  from  Mr.  W.  T.  Stead 
to  go  to  London  and  give  evidence  concerning  what 
was  known  as  the  Leith  case  (of  which  further  details 
will  be  found  in  Chapter  V.,  headed  "  German  Chil- 
dren"), which  was  desired  for  the  effort  then  being 
made  to  secure  the  passing  of  the  Criminal  Amend- 
ment Bill.  This  I  did,  and  went  through  a  good  deal 
of  annoyance  in  consequence,  as  did  everybody  who 
ventured  to  meddle  with  the  subject  which  so  agitated 
the  country  at  that  time.  I  was  therefore  not  sorry 
that  I  had  previously  arranged  to  go  to  Canada  that 
summer,  and  carry  on  the  inquiries,  begun  in  1882, 
relative  to  the  emigration  of  children  and  the  protec- 
tion to  be  obtained  for  them.  On  this  occasion  I  met 
with  more  success,  and  obtained  promises  of  help 
of  various  kinds  from  various  people ;  and  matters 
having  become  serious,  so  far  as  I  was  concerned, 


28 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


W ! 


financially,  I  told  the  directors  I  must  avail  myself  of 
the  opening,  with  such  children  as  could  not  be  pro- 
vided for  otherwise.  I  further  said  if  they  (the  direc- 
tors) wished  to  withdraw  from  the  undertaking,  which 
had  so  outgrown  its  original  proportions,  I  could  only 
be  obliged  to  them  for  what  they  had  done.  If  they, 
on  the  other  hand,  decided  to  go  on  with  me,  I  should 
be  glad  of  their  help.     They  decided  to  go  on. 

In  the  meantime  I  took  a  short  lease  of  the  farm  at 
Leadburn  Park  as  an  outlet  for  our  older  boys,  and  as 
a  means  of  employing  them  profitably,  and  training 
them  for  work  in  Nova  Scotia.  There  were  two  houses 
on  the  place,  one  of  which  was  very  convenient  for 
younger  children  in  summer. 

Thus,  in  1886,  when  I  sailed  for  Nova  Scotia,  and 
had  closed  my  two  private  houses  of  Merleton,  Wardie, 
and  16,  Craigholm  Crescent,  Burntisland,  I  had  still 
eight  houses  full  of  children,  besides  many  boarded 
in  the  country.  Under  these  circumstances,  with  300 
children  to  provide  for,  I  was  forced  to  see  what  I 
could  do  in  the  new  country,  unless,  indeed,  I  accepted 
the  alternative  of  giving  up  the  children,  which  I  could 
not  do.  You  will  say,  "  Did  you  get  no  help  ?"  I 
answer,  "Very  little  in  pro'^ortion." 

The  Town  Council  of  Edinburgh  and  other  public 
bodies  gave  annual  grants,  and  the  public  contributed 
latterly  about  ;^500  a  year;  but,  as  I  said  before,  it 
was  understood  I  was  responsible  for  the  expenses  of 


PkOGJiESS  OF  WORK  FOR  VARIOUS  CLASSES. 


29 


the  various  branches  of  the  institution,  which,  before 
I  left  Edinburgh,  amounted  to  at  least  ;^8ooo.  This 
seems  a  large  sum,  but  when  you  consider  this  paid 
the  expenses  for  eleven  years  of  so  large  a  work,  that 
at  a  very  moderate  computation  yyx>  children  had 
passed  through  my  hands,  and  that  about  700  young 
people  had  been  started  in  the  world,  the  amount  does 
not  seem  extravagant.  In  Nova  Scotia  I  have  spent 
about  £2000  more. 

In  March,  1886,  I  accepted  the  invitation  of  the 
London  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Chil- 
dren to  attend  (as  the  representative  of  the  Edinburgh 
Society)  at  a  meeting  held  at  their  Shelter  in  Harpur 
Street,  where  I  met  Mr.  James  Giahame,  chairman  of 
the  Glasgow  Society,  and  others.  The  Rev.  Benjamin 
Waugh  greeted  me  most  warmly,  and  introduced  me 
to  the  meeting  as  "a  veteran  in  the  work,"  having 
been  fighting  the  children's  battle  against  cruelty  since 
1877,  while,  as  he  was  pleased  to  say,  stronger  people 
had  only  awakened  to  the  necessity  in  1884.  In  the 
course  of  the  meeting  we  Scotch  representatives  urged 
the  necessity  for  legislation  in  Scotland,  and  were  ad- 
vised to  ask  the  help  of  any  parliamentary  or  official 
friends  on  whose  support  we  could  rely,  I  brought 
the  case  before  the  Hon.  J.  H.  A.  Macdonald,  who  was 
the  Lord  Advocate  of  Scotland  at  the  time,  and  he 
most  kindly  arranged  a  meeting  in  one  of  the  side 
rooms  of  the  House  of  Commons,  which  was  attended 


!frr 


€\ 


30 


OU/i   CHILDREN. 


m 


ilVi ! 

ili 


by  the  Hon.  Preston  Bruce,  M.P.,  Dr.  Farquharson, 
M.P.,  and  some  other  Scotch  members.  The  Lord 
Advocate  presided.  James  Grahame,  Esq.,  repre- 
sented the  Glasgow  Society,  and  I  attended  by  special 
invitation  to  represent  Edinburgh,  which  I  believe  was 
an  unusual  honour  for  a  woman  !  Our  friends  spoke 
encouragingly,  and  promised  to  do  all  they  could, 
though  it  was  not  until  1888  that  the  law  regarding 
cruelty  to  children  was  altered.     Praise  the  Lord  I 

I  am  thankful  to  have  thus  been  the  means  of  lay- 
ing the  foundation  and  developing  in  Edinburgh  the 
work  which  since  then,  by  joining  the  Glasgow  So- 
ciety, has  become  the  Scottish  National  Society  for 
Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children,  as  recorded  in 
their  "Occasional  Paper"  dated  November,  1889. 

James  Grahame,  Esq.,  chairman  of  the  Glasgow 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children, 
giving  an  account  of  its  origin  in  1884,  and  after 
noticing  the  formation  in  Liverpool  of  the  first  Society 
called  by  that  name  in  Great  Britain,  says  : — 


In  another  part  of  this  publication  there  is  given  an  account 
of  the  origin  of  the  Children's  Aid  and  Refuge  Society,  which 
is  now  merged  in  the  Scottish  National  Society  for  the  Preven- 
tion of  Cruelty  to  Children,  but  which  was  then  a  private 
enterprise  of  Miss  Emma  M.  Stirling,  who  deserves  the  utmost 
credit  as  the  disinterested  and  self-devoted  pioneer  of  the  great 
movement  for  the  protection  and  rescue  of  children  in  the  East 
of  Scotland. 


PKOGRESS  OF  WORK  FOR  VARIOUS  CLASSES. 


31 


Here  is  the  account  of  the  Children's  Aid  and 
Refuge  referred  to,  signed  by  Mr.  Colston,  chair- 
man:— 

This  Institution  was  established  for  the  protection  of  young 
people. 

//  existed  several  years  before  there  was  any  project  put  forth 
to  form  societies  in  our  large  cities  and  towns  for  the  Preven- 
tion of  Cruelty  to  Children.  It  was  practically  in  its  own  way 
subserving  the  very  purpose  for  which  these  larger  organiza- 
tions have  been  calleu  into  existence.  The  opening  by  Miss 
Emma  M.  Stirling  of  a  small  Creche  or  Day  Nursery  was  the 
first  inception  of  the  scheme. 

Then  follows  a  description  of  the  Day  Nursery, 
which  it  is  needless  to  repeat.  Mr.  Colston  con- 
tinues : — 

The  H  ne  was  partly  supported  by  public  benevolence,  but 
chiefly  by  the  liberality  of  Miss  Stirling,  who  generously  made 
up  the  deficiency  of  each  year  out  of  her  own  private  means. 
Having  requested  the  aid  and  co-operation  of  a  few  leading 
citizens  to  act  as  a  committee  of  advice  in  the  benevolent  work 
to  which  she  had  dedicated  herself,  it  soon  became  obvious 
that  there  were  many  sad  cases  of  cruelty  towards  children 
that  the  general  public  knew  little  about,  and  for  which  the 
state  of  the  law  did  not  afford  any  sufficient  remedy. 

Miss  Stirling's  active  exertions  in  the  work  of  rescuing  and 
befriending  neglected  children  are  now  well  known  to  the 
community.  It  is  not  requisite  to  dilate  upon  these  further 
than  to  say  that  her  efforts,  under  the  committee  of  advice 
who  were  associated  with  her,  had,  as  their  effect,  in  a  large 


3* 


OUR   CHILDREN, 


m\ 


measure,  the  work  ol'  prevention  of  cruelty  to  children  as  now 
understood. 

Then  follows  an  account  of  the  German  children 
described  in  Chapter  V.  of  this  book : — 

Since  that  time,  as  Mr.  Henderson,  the  Chief  of  Police, 
and  other  official  gentlemen  in  the  city  can  testify,  a  number 
of  cases  of  gross  cruelty  have  been  brought  to  light  through 
means  of  the  Aid  and  Refuge,  and  have  been  reported  to  the 
Police,  with  the  result  that  the  offenders  were  punished. 

The  Shelter  from  Cruelty  was  opened  in  1884  by  Miss 
Stirling  and  those  gentlemen  who  had  by  this  time  become 
associated  with  her  in  the  management.  It  is  situated  at  a 
convenient  distance  from  the  chief  police  office.  During  the 
same  year  a  Society  was  formed  1.  the  city,  called  ' '  The 
Edinburgh  Society  for  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children."  It 
was,  however,  soon  found  by  its  promoters  that  the  work  was 
being  so  well  done  by  the  Children's  Aid  and  Refuge  that 
there  was  no  need  for  the  new  organization.  It  therefore 
became  amalgamated  with  this  institution. 

In  1886  Miss  Stirling  thought  it  to  be  her  duty  to  transfer 
her  field  of  usefulness  to  across  the  sea  to  Aylesford,  Nova 
Scotia,  where  she  is  still  proving  herself  the  friend  of  little 
children  by  devoting  her  time,  attention,  and  private  fortune 
to  their  benefit. 

(Signed)        James  Colston. 


ill 


CHAPTER   IV. 


PREVENTION  OF  CRUELTV  CASES  OF  RESCUED  CHILDREN. 


As  I  have  been  engaged  in  another  field  for  the  last 
four  years,  and  labouring  for  the  good  of  children 
who  have  been  rescued,  and  whose  sorrows  and  sufifer- 
ings  are  therefore  things  of  the  past,  this  chapter  must 
be  one  of  recollection ;  and  I  can  only  tell  you  cases 
as  they  occur  to  me  in  order  to  illustrate  the  story  of 
the  work  given  me  to  do  between  1877  and  1888, 
when  I  left  Scotland  for  Nova  Scotia. 

1.  The  first  case  with  which  I  was  called  on  to  deal, 
and  which  opened  my  eyes  to  the  possibility  of  hideous 
cruelty  to  infants,  was  that  of  a  baby  of  something 
over  a  year  old,  which  was  brought  me  fearfully 
bruised,  and  had  on  its  throat  the  distinct  marks  of  a 
knife.  I  applied  to  the  police  for  help,  but,  I  regret 
to  say,  the  perpetrator  was  not  discovered.  I  nursed 
it  till  it  died  a  short  time  after  its  admission. 

2.  Another  was  a  girl  of  eight  years  old,  who  had 
jumped  out  of  a  window  sixty  feet  high  to  escape  from 
her  mother,  who  was  beating  her  unmercifully,  with- 
out apparently  any  reason  except  drunken  fury. 

3.  Another,  a  girl  of  ten  years,  whose  mother  had 

3  33 


34 


oih'  cm  1. 1)  K  EX. 


applied  to  the  Home  for  her  admission  and  had  been 
refused  as  unnecessary,  who  thereupon  set  to  work 
apparently  to  get  rid  of  her,  and  with  the  help  of  the 
stepfather  hacked  her  feet  and  legs  with  an  axe. 
This  case  was  brought  by  a  policeman.  Both  these 
girls  have  done  remarkably  well. 

4.  Three  children  aged  six,  four  and  a  half,  and  two 
and  a  half  years.  The  eldest,  a  girl,  the  two  younger, 
boys,  were  found  in  a  dying  state  from  want  of  food 
to  so  frightful  an  extent  that  they  ate  everything. 
The  elder  children  could  go  to  the  streets  and  pick 
up  crumbs  of  'oread  and  stumps  of  cabbages,  but  the 
younger  could  not  walk,  so  lay  helpless  on  the  straw, 
which,  in  course  of  time,  he  ate  as  well  as  paper  and 
cinders.  This  I  saw  him  do  myself  His  hair  for  a 
long  time  ^2a  perfectly  white,  like  that  of  an  old  mun. 
They  have  all  done  well. 

5.  Boy  of  five  years.  Was  found  hanging  by  his 
hands  out  of  a  high  window,  in  which  position  he  had 
been  forcibly  placed  by  his  father  in  a  drunken  freak 
of  temper.  The  child  was  rescued  with  some  diffi- 
culty, and  brought  to  me  by  his  mother,  who  came 
home  from  her  work  in  time  to  see  her  child  delivered 
from  his  awkward  predicament,  and  consequently  im- 
plored me  to  keep  him.  For  a  long  time  the  effect  on 
his  nervous  system  was  evident. 

6.  A  little  boy  of  three  years,  who  had  been  so 
long  shut  up  in  a  room  alone  for  hours,  with  a  "  piece" 


PREVENTION   OE   CRUELTY   CASES. 


35 


to  keep  him  from  starving,  that  his  wits  seemed  to 
have  become  addled.  He  never  smiled,  but  moaned 
and  chattered  feebly.  After  being  nursed  for  a  good 
many  weeks,  he  recovered  in  a  great  measure;  and 
one  of  our  little  girls  having  taken  him  under  her 
special  protection,  he  gradually  became  like  the  other 
children,  and  is  now  a  fine  sturdy  fellow,  decidedly 
clever. 

7.  A  fine  stout  child  of  about  two  and  a  half  years, 
whose  mother  apparently  set  to  work  to  beat  him  to 
death.  He  was  brought  by  some  working  women, 
and  the  mother  sent  to  prison  for  sixty  days. 

8.  Another  little  boy  of  about  the  same  age,  who  is 
nearly  blind,  his  mother  having  poked  his  eyes  with  a 
stick.  One  eye  is  entirely  blind,  the  other  nearly  so. 
Otherwise  he  is  a  stout  and  intelligent  boy,  with 
mercifully  an  extremely  happy  temper. 

I  could  go  on  with  such  painful  histories,  but  these 
will  be  enough  to  show  what  I  formerly  was  called  to 
do,  in  the  way  of  protecting  children  from  cruelty, 
before  this  work  was  so  well  understood,  or  so  much 
the  fashion  as  it  is  now. 

There  is  another  form  of  cruelty  to  which  I  shall 
refer  in  the  next  chapter.  I  mean  the  trade  in  Ger- 
man children,  which  I  am  thaiikful  to  have  been  the 
means  of  stopping  in  Scotland.  But  whether  foreign- 
ers or  not,  it  is  by  no  means  the  first  time  that  little 
girls,  mere  children,,  have  fled  to  me  for  refuge,  as 


36 


OUR    CHILDREN. 


they  might  have  done  to  the  old  cities  which  God 
appointed  long  ago  in  Israel ;  they  liave  come 
flushed,  panting,  terrified,  as  if  the  destroyer  were  at 
their  heels. 

Open  the  door  for  the  children, 

Tenderly  gather  them  in  ; 
In  from  the  highways  and  byways. 

In  from  the  places  of  sin. 

Chorus. 
Open  the  door,  open  the  door, 

Pray  you  that  grace  may  be  given  ; 
Open  the  door  for  the  children, 

Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  Heaven. 

Open  the  door  for  the  children. 

Some  are  so  hungry  and  cold  ; 
Some  are  so  young  and  so  helpless, 

Gather  them  into  the  fold. 


Open  the  door  for  the  children, 
Stretch  out  a  welcoming  hand  ; 

Bid  them  sit  down  to  the  banquet. 
Point  them  to  Canaan's  land. 


CHAPTER    V. 


GERMAN    CHILDREN. 


In  1883  a  very  strange  thing  was  brought  to  my 
knowledge  at  the  Day  Nursery.  It  happened  in  this 
way : — 

One  day,  about  the  end  of  May,  a  man  called  to 
apply  for  the  admission  to  the  Day  Nursery  of  his 
motherless  child,  aged  about  four  years.  He  said  he 
was  a  German,  and  could  speak  very  little  English. 
He  gave  the  name  of  N ,  and  said  he  was  a  chem- 
ist's labourer.  The  nurse  supplied  him  with  the  usual 
certificate.  He  seemed  unwilling  to  go  away,  and 
after  a  time  made  her  understand  he  now  wished  a 
certificate  for  the  Home,  the  existence  of  which  he 
had  discovered  since  he  entered  the  house.  She  told 
him  she  must  ask  me  for  that,  which  she  accordingly 
did  at  my  next  visit.  It  seemed  to  me  a  most  neces- 
sary case,  being,  as  I  was  led  to  believe,  that  of  a 
little  motherless  foreigner,  who  had  no  other  means 
of  being  taken  care  of.  In  a  few  days  the  child  was 
brought,  but,  instead  of  being  four  years  old,  looked 
about  six  or  seven.     She  remained  in  the  Home  all 

summer.     N visited  her  frequently,  and  seemed 

37 


38 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


very  anxious  about  her ;  in  fact,  was  inclined  to  be 
intrusive,  and  to  disregard  the  hours  at  which  visitors 
were  expected.  However,  we  made  all  due  allowance 
for  his  ignorance  of  our  ways,  and  things  went  on 
smoothly  enough.  All  this  time  I  had  never  met 
him,  though  I  had  several  times  sent  him  a  message 
that  I  should  like  to  talk  to  him.  In  August  I  was 
away  from  home,  and  received  a  letter  from  him,  not 
very  coherent,  written  partly  in  German,  partly  in 
broken  English.  So  far  as  I  could  understand  it,  the 
point  was  to  beg  me  to  admit  another  German  child 
into  the  Home,  whom  he  expected  shortly  to  arrive 
from  Germany.  I  felt  pro/oked  at  his  presuming  to 
bring  children  from  Germany  for  no  apparent  reason 
but  to  take  advantage  of  the  Home.  However,  as  I 
could  not  decipher  the  letter  to  my  own  satisfaction, 
and  was  to  be  absent  for  some  weeks,  I  thought  it 
safer  to  ask  our  doctor  to  go  and  see  him,  to  find  out 
the  truth  of  the  matter,  and,  if  necessary,  receive  the 
other  child.  After  some  correspondence  Dr.  Notley 
wrote  to  me  that  he  could  not  understand  the  man ; 
he  had  changed  his  address  once  or  twice  ;  that  some- 
times he  said  one  thing,  sometimes  another ;  that  the 
second  child  had  dropped  out  of  the  question,  and  was 
not  coming  to  Scotland  in  the  meantime ;  that  I  had 
better  make  a  point  of  seeing  him  (the  applicant)  as 
soon  as  possible,  adding,  he  could  speak  English  as 
well  as  any  one. 


GEKMAX   CllILDRKA'. 


On  my  return  to  Edinburgh  I  arranged  for  N- 


39 

to 


come  and  see  me  at  the  Home.  He  at  once  began  the 
conversation  by  asking  me  to  receive  another  little  girl. 

I  said,  "  !s  this  the  one  you  expected  in  August  ?" 

He  replied,  "  No ;  that  child  stopped  in  London, 
where  she  has  been  put  into  a  Home  for  German 
orphans ;  this,  madam,  is  another,  a  third  little  girl," 

Startled  out  of  all  caution,  I  remarked,  "  How  very 
extraordinary !  What  do  you  mean  by  it  ?  What  are 
you  doing  with  all  these  children  ?" 

He  said,  "  Oh,  madam,  it  is  quite  natural ;  the  first 
is  my  own  child ;  the  second — well,  her  friends'  plans 
for  her  are  changed ;  the  third,  it  is  still  well.  I  want 
a  companion  for  my  own  child,  and  I  prefer  a  German 
to  a  Scotch  girl." 

I  felt  it  was  not  all  well.  The  man  looked  odd.  I 
suspected  something  wrong,  but  could  not  tell  what. 
I  thought  the  best  thing  was  to  be  quiet  and  let  him 
go  on  telling  me  anything  he  chose ;  so  I  made  a 
good  listener,  and,  except  by  a  question  now  and  then, 
did  not  interrupt  him  in  a  long  and  circumstantial 
accouiit  of  his  wife'j  illness  and  death,  when  his  little 
girl  was  born  in  a  poor  neighbourhood  close  by  where 
we  were  then  sitting.  The  truth  of  this  I  never 
doubted,  and  expressed  my  sympathy. 

At  last  it  occurred  to  me  to  say,  "  Who  helped  you 
to  take  care  of  your  little  girl  after  her  mother's  death 
till  now  ?" 


;i 


A 


i 


I 


i 


liiW 


1 


40 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


He  said,  "  She  was  with  my  friends  in  Germany." 

I  asked,  "  Why  didn't  you  leave  her  there  ?  or  why 
don't  you  send  her  to  them  again  ?" 

His  EngHsh  failed ;  he  no  longer  understood,  until 
at  length  he  informed  me  his  object  in  getting  the 
third  one  was  to  have  her  as  his  housekeeper  very 
soon,  and  by-and-by  to  make  his  wife.  I  felt  the  only 
safety  for  the  poor  child  was  to  receive  her  into  the 
Home  as  quickly  as  possible. 

Accordingly  I  gave  him  the  certificate  required, 
which  he  got  filled  up,  and  in  a  few  days  there  arrived 
from  the  German  boat  a  fair,  pretty  little  child  of  nine 
years  old,  who  could  not  speak  a  word  of  English, 

and  seemed  dreadfully  afraid  of  N .     She  was  in 

the  Home  about  a  fortnight,  when  he  claimed  the 
privilege  of  taking  her  out,  as  our  children  were  al- 
lowed to  go  to  their  friends  once  a  week,  and  arrived 
at  Burntisland  with  her  (where  I  was  staying  for  a 
short  time).  He  insisted  on  my  allowing  him  to  send 
her  back  to  Germany.  This  I  positively  refused  to 
do;  and  having  warned  him  that  I  should  inquire 
thoroughly  into  the  circumstances,  I  allowed  him  to 
take  the  child  away  with  him,  having  promised  to  take 
her  straight  to  the  Home.  No  sooner  had  I  done  so 
than  I  felt  miserable,  and  after  a  sleepless  night  got 
up  in  time  for  the  early  boat  from  Burntisland  to 
Granton  at  S  a.m.  ;  drove  quickly  to  the  Home  at 
Stockbridge,  only  to  hear,  as  might  be  expected,  there 


GERMAN  CHTLDREM, 


41 


had  been  no  tidings  of  them.  From  thence  I  pro- 
ceeded to  a  German  pastor  in  the  neighbourhood. 
From  him  I  learned  it  was  a  dreadful  business  alto- 
gether. That  this  man  had  had  a  succession  of  little 
girls,  each  personating  his  motherless  child  ;  that  they 
had  come  and  gone  no  one  knew  whither ;  that  un- 
less these  children,  now  in  his  hands,  were  to  have 
an  awful  fate,  I  must  get  and  keep  hold  of  them  by 
any  means,  even  if  I  had  to  get  the  police  to  help  me. 
To  this  I  not  unnaturally  responded,  "  Then  will  you 
come  and  help  me  ?" 

"  No,  he  could  not  do  that ;  he  was  afraid^  I  could 
not  understand  it,  and  wasted  a  few  moments  in  coax- 
ing and  arguing  with  him.  Finally,  he  advised  me 
to  go  to  the  German  Consul,  who  was  bound  to  inter- 
fere. This  I  did,  was  courteously  received,  but  ob- 
tained no  sympathy  nor  any  promise  of  help.     Mr. 

R was   strongly  of  opinion  I  should   leave  the 

whole  thing  alone. 

Finding  I  was  obstinate,  he  decided  to  tell  me  all 
he  knew,  and  taking  out  a  bundle  of  papers,  trans- 
!^^■'"d  for  my  benefit  what  sounded  to  me  like  a  revela- 
1*1  of  the  greatest  wickedness  I  had  ever  heard  of. 
I  need  not  say  I  left  the  office  more  determined  than 
ever  to  rescue  the  child. 

On  returning  to  the  Home,  and  finding  the  Nurse 
too  frightened  to  be  capable  of  helping  me  very 
much,  I  despatched  one  of  the  working  girls  to  <"be 


42 


OUR   CIULDRE.W 


"  land,"  or  block  of  houses  where  N lived,  and 

told  her  to  ask  the  women  on  the  stair  if  they  could 
help  me,  charging  the  girl  to  bring  the  child  to  me  at 

once.     E was  an  active,  well-grown  girl  of  about 

seventeen,  and  set  off,  nothing  loath.  When  she  got 
to^the  stair  where  the  wretched  abode  was,  she  heard 
a  child  crying  piteously,  and  at  the  top  of  the  stair 
the  sound  seemed  to  come  from  an  empty  attic,  where 
the  poor  little  thing  had  been  locked  in.  But  there 
was  a  broken  window  opening  on  the  landing;  and 

having  satisfied  herself  that  it  was  A 's  voice,  she, 

E ,  persuaded  her  to  climb  up  on  the  inside  of 

the  wall,  while  she  could  help  her  through  the  aper- 
ture, and  by  a  good  jump  get  free.  So  that  in  a  very 
few  minutes  the  little  prisoner  found  her  way  back 
to  me,  having  apparently  cried  till  she  could  cry  no 
more.  I  thereupon  decided  to  take  her  to  Merleton, 
Wardie  (my  own  house),  believing  she  would  be  per- 
fectly safe,  and  no  one  dare  to  molezt  us  there.  In 
this  I  reckoned  without  my  host.  The  events  of  the 
forenoon  I  have  described  took  place  on  Friday ;  and 
the  Sunday  following  being  the  Communion  Sabbath, 
all  the  grown-up  people  in  my  house  wished  to  go  to 
Church.  To  allow  them  to  do  so,  a  big  girl  was 
brought  from  one  of  the  country  Homes  to  cook  the 
dinner  and  look  after  the  little  children,  of  whom 
there  were  three  or  four  besides  the  German  child. 
I  having  a  very  bad   headache,  could   not   go   to 


GERAfAN  CHILD  REM. 


43 


Church,  and  stayed  in  bed.  After  the  rest  of  the 
party  had  started,  the  children  came  to  say  their 
hymns  to  me  for  Sunday  for  a  little,  and  then  I 
believe  I  fell  asleep.  I  was  awakened  by  a  knock  at 
the  door.  *'  Please,  ma'am,  a  gentleman  wants  to  see 
you." 

I  speculated  in  vain  what  gentleman  it  could  be. 
Visitors  are  rare  in  Church  hours  in  Scotland.     At 

length  the  girl  hit  on  a  name  not  very  unlike  N . 

I  jumped  out  of  bed  in  perfect  horror,  and  was  told 
he  was  downstairs.  On  opening  my  bedroom  door, 
I  saw,  to  my  surprise,  the  man  standing  at  the  top  of 
the  staircase  close  to  my  room  door. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?"  I  said.  "  What  are  you 
doing  here?  I  am  in  my  room,  and  can't  be  dis- 
turbed.    You  must  go  downstairs  at  once.'' 

Rather  to  my  surprise,  and  much  to  my  relief,  he 
obeyed  me,  but  after  getting  to  the  bottom  seemed 
to  gain  determination  and  proceeded  to  demand  the 
child.  Where  was  she?  Was  she  in  the  house? 
A  good  deal  followed  that  I  did  not  understand. 
Again  the  question.  Was  she  in  the  houce?  I  did 
not  f'^el  called  on  to  tell  him ;  so  contented  myself 
with  generalities  and  civilities, — asked  him  to  be  quiet, 
to  see  this  person  and  that;  above  all  things  to  leave 
the  house. 

The  truth  was  my  real  position  began  to  dawn  on 
me.     Here  I  was  in  a  lonely  house  with  no  grown-up 


<■ 


i! 


»!' 


f  s 


i  • 


44 


o(/j^  cmr.DREN. 


11 


person  within  hearing;  our  neighbours  had  all  gone 
to  Church  ;  what  could  I  do  ?  I  could  pray  to  God, 
not  audibly.  I  went  on  speaking  quietly  to  the  man, 
whose  threats  had  now  waxed  furious.  "  He  would 
kill  us  all.  He  would  empty  the  house.  He  would 
either  have  my  life  or  the  child.  He  could  take  both. 
He  had  brought  this  with  him  (showing  me  a  stick 
loaded  at  the  ends),  and  he  would  let  me  feel  the 
weight  of  it."  All  this,  and  a  great  deal  more, 
accompanied  by  a  perfect  torrent  of  bad  language 
in  English,  and  apparently  in  German.  I  could  only 
stand  still  at  the  top  of  the  staircase  and  try  to 
remonstrate.  T  heard  my  own  voice  like  a  mill-wheel 
far  ofif;  I  was  getting  very  faint,  but  all  the  time  in 
my  heart  I  was  talking  to  God,  and  praying  Him  not 
to  let  that  man  get  the  child.  I  believed  her  to  be  in 
the  nursery  with  the  other  children,  and  the  door  was 
just  at  the  bottom  of  the  staircase.  I  prayed  Him 
not  to  let  the  little  ones  open  it.     This  went  on  for 

twenty  minutes.     Why  N did  not  give  me  the 

knock  on  the  head  he  said  he  wanted  to,  I  don't 
know,  except,  I  suppose,  that  God  did  not  let  him. 

At  last  help  came :  the  children  began  to  come 
home  from  Church.  The  first  was  a  little  orphan  girl 
who  lived  in  the  house,  and  hearing  the  man  making 
a  noise,  and  my  voice  speaking  as  if  in  distress,  she 
could  not  bear  it,  but  rushed  past  him  and  got  up- 
stairs to  me,  and  then  went  for  a  man  a  little  way  off. 


GERMAN  CHILDREN, 


45 


Then  the  little  boys  from  the  Boys'  Home  on  Gran- 
ton  Road,  who  in  those  days  always  dined  with  us 
on  Sunday,  came  in,  and  when  the  little  messenger 
brought  the  neighbour  she  had  gone  to  seek,  and 
others  began  to  appear  from  Church,  our  visitor 
thought,  I  presume,  he  had  better  make  off.  Then 
policemen  came,  and  one  of  these,  an  old  friend  in 
the  neighbourhood,  insisted  upon  bringing  it  to  the 
notice  of  the  authorities  at  Leith,  and  for  the  sake 
of  the  children  I  felt  it  would  be  be.ter  to  have  a  full 
inquiry. 

In  a  day  or  two  a  man  and  his  wife — Germans — 
who  had  been  supposed  to  be  respectable,  but  who 
turned  out  to  be  accomplices,  called  on  me  separately 
and  used  every  argument  to  dissuade  me  from  this 
course.  The  man  even  again  threatened  my  life,  say- 
ing, "  It  is  for  your  own  sake,  I  warn  you.  You  had 
better  think  while  you  have  tinted  To  which  I  replied 
they  must  do  as  they  liked  ;  I  could  not  make  bar- 
gains with  a  man  like  N . 

I  am  very  thankful  I  made  no  compromise,  as  after 
a  full  inquiry  through  the  Foreign  Office,  involving  no 
doubt  much  that  was  painful  to  me,  the  Home  Office 
gave  instructions  that  the  port  of  Leith  should  be 
watched  by  the  police,  so  that  no  children  should  be 
allowed  to  land  unless  accompanied  by  their  parents 
or  well  accredited  people  in  charge  of  them,  and  that 
immediate  notice  should  be  given  to  the  authorities  of 


\k 


i:;i 


I  1.1; 


46 


OUR    CHILDREN. 


the  arrival  of  any  such  ;  and  thus  the  trade  in  German 
children  was  stopped  in  Scotland.  I  was  the  means 
of  seven  children  being  delivered  from  this  man.  I 
may  mention  here  that  no  sooner  was  the  Criminal 

Law  Amendment  Bill  passed  than  the  man  N was 

safely  lodged  in  prison  for  a  similar  offence,  and  his 
accomplices  found  it  convenient  to  leave  Edinburgh, 
so  that  the  gang  was  broken  up.  The  following  is  an 
extract  from  a  personal  letter  received  from  the  Proc- 
urator Fiscal  for  the  county  of  Midlothian.  Refer- 
ring to  this  case,  he  says  : — 

Edinburgh,  November  i,  1884. 
My  dear  Miss  Stirlinc;, — I  can  see  no  possible  objection 
to  your  making  reference  in  your  paper  to  the  case  of  the  (Ger- 
man children.  The  result  fully  justified  your  interference. 
And  all  friends  of  the  movement  for  the  protection  of  children 
should  be  indebted  to  you  for  your  persevering  endeavours  to 
get  to  the  bottom  of  the  business. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Robert  L.  Stuart. 

I  had  also  the  great  satisfaction  of  receiving  the 
thanks  of  the  German  Government  in  the  accompany- 
ing letters  from  Count  Miinster,  the  German  Ambas- 
sador : — 

Imperial  German  Embassy, 

London,  March  8,  1884. 
Madam, — In  reply  to  your  kind  note  of  February  26,  I  beg 
to  state  that  the  question  therein  contained  has  received  my 
most  careful  attention.     The  report  which  the  Consul-General 


GEA'M.IX   cm  I.  DKEX. 


47 


has,  on  my  request,  just  made  on  this  matter,  shows  that  all 
necessary  steps  have  been  taken  to  prevent,  and  to  cause  a 
thorough  inquiry  in  the  matter  by  the  competent  authorities  in 
Germany.  In  thanking  you  most  sincerely  for  the  great  in- 
terest you  take  in  the  fate  of  these  poor  German  children,  I 
have  the  honor  to  be,  Madam,  very  truly  yours, 

MlJNSTEK. 


Also  from  tiie  Imperial  German  Consul,  Lcith : — 

Leith,  March  i,  1884. 
Dear  Miss  Stirling, — I  am  directed  by  Hurgomaster  Dr. 
Carl  Petersen,  the  President  of  the  Board  of  F'oreign  Affairs 
at  Hamburg,  to  intimate  to  you  the  safe  arrival  in  good  health 
and  spirits  of  the  girl  A.  N .  I  am  at  the  same  time  in- 
structed to  express  to  you  the  best  thanks,  and  the  recognition 
of  the  High  Senate  of  Hamburg,  of  the  humane  and  carefully 
loving  manner  in  which  you  have  protected  a  daughter  of  a 
subject  of  that  State. 

The  Imperial  German  Consul, 

Adoli'He  Rohinow. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

HOMES   FOR    HOMELESS   CHILDREN. 

In  a  former  chapter,  when  giving  an  account  of  the 
progress  of  the  work,  I  alluded  to  the  rapid  growth  of 
the  Homes  and  the  number  of  houses  required. 

There  were  eight  altogether,  from  1883  to  1888. 
These  were : — 

Day  Nursery,  10,  Mackenzie  Place,  Edinburgh. 

Girls'  Home,  11,  Mackenzie  Place,  Edinburgh. 

Girls'  Home,  2,  Craigholm  Crescent,  Burntisland. 

Girls'  Home,  Leadburn  Park. 

Boys'  Home,  Rosebank,  Leadburn  Park. 

Boys'  Home,  i,  Craigholm  Crescent,  Burntisland. 

Boys'  Home,  4,  Bayton  Terrace,  Granton  Road. 

The  Shelter  from  Cruelty,  150,  High  Street,  Edinburgh. 

I  know  that  some  friends  objected  to  having  so 
many  separate  houses  on  the  score  of  expense  and 
increased  difficulty  in  supervision,  but,  after  all,  the 
Houie  is  the  first  necessity  of  a  homeless  child,  and  I 
am  convinced,  a  real  home,  and  therefore  individual 
attention,  can  only  be  secured  where  there  is  a  man- 
ageable number  of  children  ;  beyond  that  it  ceases  to 
be  a  home  and  becomes  merely  an  institution,  which  I 
believe  to  be  a  very  different  kind  of  life,  and  which 
48 


HOMES  FOR  HOMELESS  CHILDREN. 


49 


I  have  always  been  most  careful  to  avoid  for  our 
children. 

The  Homes,  as  they  existed  at  the  time  I  write  of, 
may  all  be  described  together,  as  they  were  all  con- 
ducted on  the  same  principle — exclusively  that  of 
a  family.  Each  house  was  complete  in  itself,  with 
Treasurer,  some  friend  in  the  neighbourhood,  who  was 
entirely  responsible  for  management  of  stores,  ac- 
counts, etc.,  thus  preventing  any  habit  of  waste  or 
extravagance,  which  even  in  the  best  regulated  (large) 
families  is  always  too  ready  to  creep  in,  this  treas- 
urer at  the  same  time  fulfilling  the  very  important 
duty  of  seeing  that  the  stores,  etc.,  were  used  in  the 
best  way,  and  that  the  children  actually  got  all  that 
was  intended  for  them. 

I  had  not  the  means  to  build  or  adapt  cottage  homes 
all  conveniently  close  together,  and  so  I  just  made 
use  of  plain,  ordinary  buildings  in  suitable  situations 
as  I  could  find  them,  when  the  need  for  a  fresh  house 
arose.  As  to  looking  after  them,  no  doubt  it  entailed 
a  great  deal  of  exertion  on  my  part,  even  with  all  the 
help  the  treasurers  so  kindly  and  willingly  gave  me. 

Next  in  authority  to  the  Treasurer  came  the  Nurse, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  be  mother  in  the  Home.  I 
did  not  encourage  the  children  to  call  her  so,  for  I 
think  anything  unreal  is  a  mistake,  and  many  of  them 
who  remembered  good,  gentle  mothers  of  their  own 
could  not  have  failed  to  resent  it.     They  so  often  told 

4 


i 


,J- 


50 


OUR   CHILDREN, 


US  touching  little  stories  of  how  happy  and  well  cared 
for  they  were  "  when  my  mother  was  living,"  and  how 
sadly  matters  changed  when  she  was  taken  ill.  How, 
for  instance,  "  Bobbie  was  a  bonnie  bairn,  with  curly 
hair,  and  my  mother  kept  him  aye  clean  and  bonnie, 
and  syne  when  she  took  ill  she  could  na  sort  him  ony 
mair;  and  she  could  na  bide  to  hear  him  greet:  and 
we  tried  to  do,  and  we  could  na ;  and  she  was  taken 

away  to  the  hospital,  and — and "     The  poor  little 

historian  at  this  point  would  frequently  throw  itself 
on  my  lap  in  an  agony  of  grief  Some  were  more 
composed  with  a  precocious  gravity  and  care  of  "  the 
baby"  that  was  even  sadder.  A  very  troublesome 
baby  of  fourteen  months  was  brought  to  us;  he  was 
accompanied  by  his  elder  sister  of  nine,  because,  as 
she  explained,  "  he  won't  go  to  any  one  else."  When 
I  saw  them  at  Mackenzie  Place,  I  thought  they  were 
too  delicate  to  stay  there,  and  took  them  home  with 
me.  Master  baby  paid  me  the  compliment  of  being 
pleased  to  go  to  me;  and  next  day  when  I  had  him  in 
my  arms,  playing  with  himself  in  the  glass,  Maggie 
stood  watching  us  with  great  interest,  and  said  in  a 
tone  of  sorrowful  composure,  like  an  elderly  woman, 
"  Baby  thinks  you're  my  mother ;  thafs  ivhy  he's 
pleased  with  you."  I  said,  "  When  did  he  see  your 
mother,  my  dear?"  "About  a  fortnight  ago,  and  she's 
died  since ;"  and  poor  little  Maggie  heaved  a  deep  sigh 
and  shook  her  head. 


HOMES  FOR   HOMELESS  CHILDREN. 


5» 


But  I  must  be  done  with  recollections,  as  these 
Homes  in  Scotland  are  now  a  thing  of  the  past,  and 
it  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  them  by  way  of  giving 
a  history  of  the  work  which  would  otherwise  be  in- 
complete. My  views  as  to  the  management  of  Homes 
for  homeless  children  will  doubtless  appear  hereafter, 
when  I  tell  you  the  story  of  our  Homes  in  Nova 
Scotia,  where  the  same  plan  is  carried  on,  and  where 
the  chief  object  is  to  make  the  Home  a  real  /tome  to 
each  member  of  it. 

Before  I  leave  the  recollections  of  this  happy  time 
of  work  in  Scotland,  I  must  mention  the  boarding  out 
system,  which  I  was  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  in 
1884,  when  house  accommodation  failed.  I  was  very 
careful  in  the  selection  of  those  with  whom  they  were 
placed,  and  the  children  were  arranged  in  groups  of 
four  or  six,  so  that  the  friend  who  acted  as  treasurer 
and  paid  their  board  monthly,  could  see  exactly  how 
they  were  attended  to,  and  look  after  them  in  every 
way.  I  beg  to  thank  those  friends  in  the  country, 
especially  Mrs.  Paterson,  of  Buckrigg  Farm,  near 
Beattock,  who  so  efficiently  carried  on  this  part  of 
the  work,  the  results  of  which  were,  to  my  mind,  ex- 
tremely satisfactory ;  and  many  were  the  lamentations 
alike  of  nurses  and  children  when  it  proved  too  expen- 
sive to  be  continued,  and  our  children  had  to  be  removed 
to  other  quarters,  on  my  winding  up  my  personal  con- 
nection with  the  work  previous  to  leaving  Scotland. 


CHAPTER    VII. 


I   \  i 

.  i 


FLOWER    MISSION   CHILDREN. 

The  heading  of  this  chapter  brings  before  me  a  dif- 
ferent set  of  children  from  those  I  have  been  teUing  you 
about,  but  of  whom  I  saw  a  great  deal,  and  by  whose 
kindness  I  was  enabled  to  do  a  most  pleasant  piece  of 
work  for  many  years.  They  were  the  Flower  Mission 
Children  of  Burntisland.  I  daresay  many  of  them 
will  read  this  little  book,  and  will  like  to  remember  as 
well  as  I  do  our  lovely  and  fragrant  nower  mission, 
the  fruit  of  which  will,  I  doubt  not,  be  seen  many  days 
hence.  Therefore  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  remind- 
ing them  of  it,  and  telling  st;  angers  of  a  beautiful  work 
which  these  children  did,  and  which  I  never  think  of 
without  longing  that  it  could  return,  very  much  as  in 
winter  one  thinks  of  last  summer's  flowers,  and  wish- 
ing they  were  with  us  again.  The  summer  will  come, 
and  bring  its  flowers  for  those  who  are  here  to  see 
them,  and  I  cannot  doubt  that  in  the  endless  summer 
above  the  seed  sown  by  the  Flower  Mission  children 
will  blossom  abundantly  in  the  garden  of  God. 

The  Burntisland  Flower  Mission  began  and  grew  in 
the  manner  following : — 
52 


FLOWER    MISSION   CHILDREN. 


53 


When  I  used  to  drive  from  Wardie  to  the  Day 
Nursery  for  my  day's  work  there,  vtry  often,  for  the 
sake  of  a  little  more  fresh  air,  I  went  round  by  St. 
Cuthbert's  poorhouse,  and  each  time  I  passed  I  felt  a 
greater  longing  to  get  inside  of  that  institution,  and 
see  if  I  might  be  allowed  to  take  with  me  a  little 
pleasure  and  comfort  to  its  inmates,  I  always  had  a 
great  fancy  for  visiting  in  poorhouses,  chiefly,  I  think, 
because  at  that  time  the  inmates  seemed  so  cut  off 
from  the  outside  world  (I  fancy  it  is  better  now),  so 
lonely,  so  in  need  of  the  good  news  of  God's  love — in 
fact,  of  good  news  of  any  kind,  even  of  human  love ; 
and  in  those  cases  where  being  there  was  most  obvi- 
ously their  own  doing,  still  they  were  the  sinners  Jesus 
came  to  save,  and  seemed  to  me  more  accessible  than 
prosperous  sinners  outside.  For  all  these  reasons  I 
had  found  my  visits  acceptable  in  country  poorhouses, 
and  now  that  my  lot  was  cast  near  the  city,  I  thought 
I  would  try  there  too.  But  what  excuse  could  I 
make  ?  At  last  it  occurred  to  me  that  having  again 
become  the  fortunate  p  jssessor  of  a  garden,  from  which 
I  was  careful  to  provide  the  "  Sunday  flower"  on  Sat- 
urday, I  might  take  some  flowers  to  the  hospital.  It 
had  been  our  custom  all  my  life  in  my  old  home  to 
have  this  regularly  attended  to,  and  I  have  great  be- 
lief in  the  blessing  that  goes  with  a  Sunday  flower,  for 
I  believe  in  flowers  as  a  direct  means  of  grace.  They 
surely  carry  the  message  of  God's  love  to  us,  and  His 


li 


54 


OUR    CHILDREN. 


desire  for  our  happiness  and  pleasure.  He  would  not 
have  sown  them  all  over  the  earth,  as  He  has  done,  if 
this  were  not  so.  Therefore  it  occurred  to  me  to 
inquire  whether  flowers  would  oe  acceptable,  or  per- 
mitted, in  the  poorhouse.  Finding  they  would  be 
welcomed  ?/"  there  were  enough  for  all,  in  the  hospital 
for  instance,  so  as  not  to  excite  jealousy,  I  speculated 
as  to  how  I  could  get  so  many ;  and  the  stipulation 
seemed  almost  prohibitory,  as  the  hospital  had  250 
beds,  alas,  apparently  always  full. 

I  noticed  just  at  this  time  in  some  periodical  an 
account  of  a  "  Flower  Mission"  in  London.  The  name 
was  new  to  me,  but  it  seemed  exactly  the  idea  I  wanted, 
and  I  lost  no  time  in  writing  to  the  lady  whose  address 
was  given.  I  forget  her  name  and  the  address  of  the 
mission  now,  but  I  believe  it  was  the  first  of  the  kind 
in  London,  the  result  of  which  has  been  the  spread  of 
flower  missions  all  over  the  world.  In  answer  to  my 
inquiry  I  received  a  most  kind  reply,  approving  highly 
of  my  idea,  and  giving  practical  information  as  to  how 
to  set  about  the  work,  at  the  same  time  dwelling  much 
on  the  necessity  for  accompanying  the  flowers  by  a 
text  from  the  Word  of  God,  which  was  most  easily 
conveyed  by  being  written  or  printed  (by  hand)  on  a 
simple  bouquet-holder,  a  large  number  of  which  could 
be  had  for  a  nominal  sum  at  the  headquarters  of  the 
Mission.  In  my  case  it  seemed  to  me  they  were  sup- 
plied gratis.    It  then  occurred  to  me  I  should  be  more 


FLOWER   MISSIOX   CHILDREN. 


55 


likely  to  succeed  in  obtaining  a  supply  of  flowers  if  I 
made  known  my  desires  in  Burntisland.  To  those 
who  do  not  know  the  neighbourhood  of  Edinburgh 
intimately,  I  may  explain  that  at  that  time,  before  the 
Forth  Bridge  was  built,  Burntisland  was  a  place  of 
some  importance  to  the  travelling  public,  being  the 
point  to  which  the  ferryboat  of  the  North  British 
Railway  conveyed  passengers  crossing  the  Forth  from 
Edinburgh  to  Fife  and  the  North  of  Scotland.  It  was 
a  quiet  little  town,  lying  close  to  the  Forth,  well  shel- 
tered by  the  Fife  hills,  with  lovely  woods  stretching 
westward  to  Aderdour,  and  the  whole  country-side 
celebrated  for  wild  flowers. 

For  some  years  previously,  while  I  was  an  invalid, 
I  was  much  in  Burntisland,  and  had  many  friends 
among  the  children  of  all  classes.  With  the  assist- 
ance of  twelve  of  the  elder  girls  it  seemed  easy  to  have 
a  very  efficient  flower  mission  band.  We  discovered 
Mr.  Wood  (bookseller)  was  strongly  in  sympathy  with 
us,  and  he  most  kindly  agreed  to  allow  the  contribu- 
tions to  be  brought  to  his  shop  on  Friday,  from  6  to 
8  P.M.,  on  condition  that  each  evening  two  of  my 
young  friends  who  were  known  as  stewardesses  should 
attend  to  receive  them,  and  pack  them  in  the  large  tin 
box  provided  for  that  purpose,'  which  wss  sent  across 


'  The  duties  of  the  stewardesses  did  not  end  here.     They 
undertook  to  make  tea  and  amuse  the  children  at  the  happy 


S6 


OUR    CHILDREN. 


the  Forth  to  me  early  the  next  morning.  I  had  thus 
plenty  of  time  to  put  the  finishing  touches  to  our 
bouquets  before  taking  them  to  the  hospital  at  the 
visitors'  hours.  Our  success  was  complete,  and  we 
were  also  able  to  supply  the  old  people  regularly  at 
Kinghorn  Poorhouse,  about  three  miles  from  Burntis- 
land.    The  effect  was  most  touching. 

The  flowers  were  treasured  from  one  week  to 
another — better  still,  the  texts  were  kept  as  a  precious 
possession,  and  the  simple  words  of  love  and  comfort 
repeated  to  me  over  and  over  again,  reverently  and 
gratefully  by  quivering  lips,  which  I  fear  had  in  the 
olden  time  been  more  familiar  with  oaths.  I  was  as- 
sured by  the  nurses  that  the  softening  of  many  hearts 
was  not  confined  to  Saturday  afternoon,  but  was  very 
apparent  at  other  times. 

One  very  desolate,  gentle  old  woman,  who  had 
always  been  most  grateful  for  the  flowers,  and  had 
expressed  most  earnestly  her  trust  in  Jesus,  had  just 
passed  away  at  my  next  visit.  I  was  taken  by  the 
nurse  to  her  bedside,  and  on  her  breast  were  laid  the 
withered  flowers  of  last  Saturday,  and  all  the  little 
texts  of  weeks  before.     The  nurse  whispered,  **  Give 


tea-party  with  which  we  wound  up  the  proceedings  at  the  close 
of  each  season,  after  the  last  Friday  of  September.  We  began 
with  primroses  !  To  show  the  popularity  of  the  Mission,  the 
contributors  numbered  over  300. 


FLOWER    MISSION  CHILDREN. 


57 


me  one  for  her  to-day,  ma'am,  a  white  one.  She 
thought  so  much  of  them,  and  begged  to  have  them 
buried  with  her."  I  believe  from  what  she  had  told 
me  she  knew  and  loved  the  Saviour. 

The  matron  told  me  she  had  never  seen  anything 
have  so  great  an  effect  in  softening  roughness,  and 
producing  good  humour  in  the  place.  She  therefore 
asked  that  if  I  could  manage  it,  I  would  bring  large 
bunches  of  common  flowers  and  stick  in  them  a  few 
texts  mounted  on  wire,  for  the  day-rooms  in  the  main 
house.  She  was  much  gratified  with  the  result,  and 
told  me  she  had  often  seen  rough,  apparently  callous 
men,  irresistibly  attracted  by  the  flowers,  and  reading 
the  texts  again  and  again,  who  had  never  appeared  to 
notice  anything  else  in  the  way  of  religion.  Let  us 
hope  that  even  in  their  case  the  promise  was  fulfilled, 
that  "  My  ivord  shall  7iot  return  unto  me  void,  but  it 
shall  accomplish  that  which  I  please,  and  prosper  in 
the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it." 

And  did  the  children  who  did  this  work  get  no 
blessing,  do  you  think  ?  I  believe  they  received  a 
great  blessing — in  better  acquaintance  with  God's 
word — when  they  searched  for  texts  most  suited  to 
the  sick  and  sorrowful, — in  greater  enjoyment  of  their 
gardens  when  they  gave  their  flowers  to  carry  a  mes- 
sage of  hope  and  cumfort  to  those  who  needed  both 
sadly,  and  the  blessing  which  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
promised  to  all  who  should  give  even  a  cup  of  cold 


I*  it 


58 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


water  to  any  needy  one,  however  humble  and  insig- 
nificant, if  given  in  His  name.  I  believe  these  chil- 
dren, who  gave  their  play-time,  sympathy,  sweet 
flowers,  and  carefully  selected  texts,  got  a  great  bless- 
ing in  their  own  souls,  as  all  do  who  try  to  make  the 
world  better  and  happier  for  Jesus's  sake.  I  have  told 
this  story  of  their  lovely  and  successful  work  in  the 
hope  that  some  other  children  may  be  encouraged 
either  to  join  or  to  begin  a  Flower  Mission  on  their 
own  account.  Even  outside  hospitals  and  workhouses 
there  are  many  to  whom  such  a  gift  as  a  Sunday 
flower  would  be  most  acceptable.  And  there  are 
many  bright  little  boys  and  girls,  who  are  often  sadly 
in  want  of  ''  somethmg  to  do,'*  whose  clever  fingers 
and  pretty  colour-boxes  might  find  pleasant  and 
useful  work  on  wet  days  in  painting  borders  round 
bouquet-holders,  printing  texts  on  the  same,  and 
when  the  rain  is  over  and  the  sun  shines,  could 
gather  many  sweet  flowers  to  rejoice  sad  hearts  and 
weary  eyes  in  less  cheerful  places  than  have  fallen  to 
their  own  happy  lot.  Dear  young  reader,  will  you 
try  ?  If  you  will,  I  am  sure  you  will  find  there  is 
great  pleasure  in  being  one  of  the  Flower  Mission 
children. 


God  might  have  made  the  earth  bring  forth 

Enough  for  great  and  small, 
The  oak  tree  and  the  cedar  tree 

Without  a  flower  at  all. 


FLO  WE !^    Af/SSrON  C/nr.DREA'. 

He  might  have  made  enough,  enough 

For  every  wanf  ot  ours  ; 
Enough  for  medicine,  food,  and  toil, 

And  yd  have  made  no  flowers  ! 

Then  wherefore,  wherefore  were  they  made, 

All  dyed  with  rainbow  light, 
Laden  with  sweet  and  rare  perfume 

Upspringing  day  and  night  ? 

Springing  amid  the  meadows  fair 

And  on  the  mountains  high, 
And  in  the  silent  wilderness 

Where  no  man  passeth  by  ? 

To  whisper  to  the  heart  of  man. 

When  faith  and  hope  are  dim, 
That  he  who  careth  for  the  flowers, 

Wili  muck  more  care  for  him  / 

Mary  Howitt. 


59 


I  i»'i 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


COFFEE-HOUSES. 


«'  i: 


Though  Temperance  work  is  not,  perhaps,  strictly 
speaking,  the  work  required  for  our  children,  still  it  is 
practically  inseparable  from  it,  and  in  my  experience, 
directly  sprang  out  of  it,  for  my  first  impulse  to 
become  a  total  abstainer  arose  from  witnessing  the 
sufferings  and  deprivations  of  poor  little  children  in 
the  course  of  my  early  work  at  the  Day  Nursery  and 
Home. 

I  was  not  at  that  time  a  teetotaler ;  I  thought  that 
many  good  people  who  were  so  were  mistaken,  and 
pressed  a  theory  too  far.  I  had  been  used  to  seeing 
beer,  wine,  and  spirits  moderately  used,  and  that  by 
people  for  whom  I  had  the  highest  respect,  and  I  did 
not  feel  called  on  to  take  any  other  view  of  the 
subject.  I  do  not  suppose  I  was  singular  in  this.  I 
fancy  most  moderate  drinkers  would  tell  you  precisely 
the  same ;  but  I  had  hitherto  seen  what  may  be  called 
the  right  side  of  the  drink  question,  with  no  know- 
ledge of  the  zvrong  side,  except,  I  admit,  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  fishermen  at  St.  Andrews,  long  ago,  when 

they  had  come  home  from  the  herring  fishing,  or  for 
60 


COFFEE- HO  USES. 


6i 


some  reason  were  flush  of  money,  when  they  too 
frequently  became  excited  to  maniacal  frenzy,  and 
used  to  make  it  dangerous  for  quiet  folks  to  pass 
near  their  dwellings ;  but  these  recollections  were  of 
frights  long  gone  by,  and  which  at  the  time  I  had 
accepted  as  a  necessary  evil.  Therefore,  when  I  began 
to  work  at  the  Day  Nursery  /  ivas  not  a  teetotaler ! 
A  short  time,  however,  sufficed  to  entirely  change  my 
opinion. 

It  was  impossible  for  any  moderately  humane  woman 
to  witness  the  sights  and  hear  the  stories  of  sin,  suf- 
fering, and  sorrow,  which  were  a  considerable  part  of 
every-day  life  there,  without  feeling  horror  and  dis- 
gust at  what  was  only  too  clearly  the  direct  cause  of 
nine-tenths  of  all  the  mischief. 

As  time  went  on  and  the  Homes  increased  I  had  to 
be  about  more  and  more,  ard  thus  saw  more  of  the 
hfe  and  temptations  of  working  men,  railway  servants, 
dock  labourers,  sailors  and  others ;  and  as  my  work 
had  to  be  done  in  all  weathers,  and  at  all  hours  from 
8  A.M.  until  lO  P.M.,  I  had  ample  opportunities  of 
seeing  the  effect  of  cold,  wet,  and  discomfort  on  the 
men.  What  seemed  to  me  the  most  fruitful  source  of 
habits  of  drinking  was  the  want  of  proper  food,  at 
reasonable  hours.  This,  as  so  many  of  them  work  at 
great  distances  from  home,  seemed  unavoidable,  as 
it  was  no  part  of  the  business  of  the  too  numerous 
public-houses  to  supply  food.     I  therefore  thought  of 


'  14 

1  11 


62 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


If 


trying  what  a  coffee-house  at  Burntisland  would  do  to 
meet  the  want,  on  the  plan  of  food  versus  drink. 

By  this  time,  1881,  the  British  Public-house  Com- 
pany in  Edinburgh  had  been  started,  and  the  Secre- 
tary was  most  kind  in  giving  me  all  information  and 
assistance,  and  in  helping  me  to  an  excellent  man 
as  manager.  So  that,  suitable  premises  having  been 
secured  near  the  pier  and  railway  station,  I  was  in  a 
position  to  begin  work.  I  took  the  utmost  pains  to 
make  the  place  attractive  and  pleasing  in  every  way, 
with  plenty  of  looking-glass,  bright  pictures,  clean 
marble  tables — in  summer,  flowers,  and  in  winter, 
plenty  of  fire  and  gas.  I  also  provided  what  seemed 
much  valued — ivash-basin  and  clean  towels,  a  plenti- 
ful supply  of  the  daily  papers,  Shipping  Gazette^  etc., 
and  from  the  kindness  of  friends  a  good  stock  of 
second-hand  magazines.  The  bookshelf  was  a  promi- 
nent feature,  and  to  this  I  added,  for  the  sake  of  the 
boys  and  lads  whom  we  induced  to  come  in  the 
evening,  the  Boys'  Own  Paper,  Animal  World,  etc., 
and  some  sets  of  dominoes,  draughts,  and  other  quiet 
games.  Cards  and  gambling  0/  any  kind  were  strictly 
forbidden.  I  am  sorry  to  say  it  required  some  firm- 
ness to  carry  out  this  rule  We  also  had  as  much 
music  as  possible  in  the  way  of  accordions,  flutes, 
etc.,  and  found  a  musical  box  very  useful  in  attracting 
customers. 

You  will  say  I  have  left  out  the  food  question.     I 


COFFEE-HOUSES. 


63 


wished  to  tell  you  first  hcv  i  tried  to  fight  the  pubh'c- 
house  with  its  own  weapons.  As  John  Wesley  said, 
"  I  don't  see  why  the  devil  should  have  all  the  pretty 
tunes,"  and  I  fail  to  see  why  the  drink-shop  should 
be  brighter  and  more  attractive  than  the  ''public-house 
\\Vi\io\}ii  the  drink  r 

One  of  our  customers  said  to  me  one  day,  when  he 
and  some  others  had  been  admiring  the  arrangements, 
"  Eh,  mem,  I  think  ye  wad  gie  us  anything  but  the  ae 
thing,  and  that  is — Whuskey!  and  I'm  sure  we're 
muckle  obleeged  till  ye  I" 

So  they  were,  I  am  sure ;  but  remember  the  coffee- 
house was  in  no  zvay  a  charity.  The  people  paid  for 
what  they  had,  and  I  was  very  careful  to  avoid  any 
idea  of  the  kind,  which  would  certainly  not  be  accept- 
able in  Scotland.  At  the  same  time  our  prices  were 
not  exorbitant,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  a 
man  could  have  three  excellent  meals  a  day  for  \s. 
This  was  managed  on  the  plan  of  the  British  Public- 
house  Company  aforesaid,  and  cheapness  achieved  by 
means  of  the  large  quantity  required.  We  called  it  a 
coffec-\\.ous,Q,  but  provided  a  great  deal  more  than  tea 
and  coffee,  viz. — soup,  cold  beef,  ham,  eggs,  bread  and 
rolls,  butter,  some  cakes  and  pastry,  and  plum-duff  for 
the  sailors.  For  these  I  took  a  great  deal  of  pains  to 
provide  fresh  meat,  but  found  to  my  surprise  and  dis- 
appointment there  was  no  demand !  Thus  the  Ship 
Coffee-house  was  launched  at  Burntisland  in  July, 
l88[. 


64 


OUR   CIIILDKEN. 


\ 


Finding  it  likely  to  succeed,  I  ventured  to  try  a 
coffee-barrow  on  Granton  Pier,  with  a  view  to  possibly 
starting  another  Ship  Coffee-house  there;  and  finding 
our  earnings  justiiy  the  effort,  I  applied  to  the  Duke 
of  Buccleuch  for  ground  on  which  to  erect  a  wooden 
building,  wiiich  was  opened  in  December,  1 88 1 ,  exactly 
on  the  plan  of  the  other,  and  which,  after  I  left  Scot- 
land, was  most  successfully  carried  on  by  a  friend  in 
tho  neighbourhood.  The  Burntisland  house  I  disposed 
of  to  a  suitable  purchaser,  on  condition  it  should  be 
worked  on  strictly  Temperance  principles. 

I  may  mention  that  in  one  year  the  earnings  at 
Burntisland  were  ;^6oo,  and  at  Granton,  ;^500.  Since 
then  I  hear  that  the  Burntisland  house  has  gradually 
lapsed,  and  finally  been  given  up.  I  fear  any  such 
effort  requires  the  active  supervision  of  some  one  on 
the  spot  who  is  really  in  earnest  in  the  work.  I  after- 
wards opened  a  third  Ship  Coffee-house  at  Kinghorn, 
at  a  time  when  the  ship-yard  was  in  full  work,  and 
several  hundreds  of  men  employed,  wh  .e  habits  and 
condition  certainly  seemed  to  require  it  very  much ;  but 
it  never  prospered  so  well  as  the  others,  and  after  two 
years  of  work  I  gave  it  up.  There  was  a  fourth  house, 
which  was  successful  while  required,  at  the  Binn  End 
shale  work,  near  Burntisland,  which  I  helped  the  man- 
ager of  the  works  to  arrange  and  carry  on  chiefly  at 
the  expense  of  the  company  ;  but  after  the  village  was 
built  for  the  men  to  live  near  their  work,  this  was  not 


COFFEE- HO  USES, 


<iS 


found  to  be  necessary,  but  did  well  for  the  time.    The 
routine  business  of  the  coffee-houses  was  managed 
on  the  same  plan  as  the  Homes,  by  having  a  treasurer 
for  each,  wiio  ordered  and  kept  account  of  the  stores, 
and  balanced  the  sheet  of  supplies  and  sales  every 
week.      The  Temperance  Tent  was  a  most    helpful 
adjunct,  where  fairs,  games,  or  any  other  large  gather- 
ings were  held,  to  say  nothing  of  supplying  refresh- 
ments to  the  cricket-players  on  Saturday  afternoons. 
The  good  effect  of  all  this  was  evident  many  days 
after. 


H 


H 


PART  II. 


OUR  CHILDREN  IN  NOVA  SCOTIA. 


67 


CHAPTER  IX. 

HOW  THEY  GOT  THERE.   I886  TO  I892. 

As  I  told  you  in  a  former  chapter,  I  had  come  to 
the  conclusion,  in  1885,  something  must  be  done  to 
feed  and  provide  for  the  ever-increasing  numbers  of 
our  children,  and  went  again  to  Canada  to  see  what 
could  be  done  for  them  there. 

As  I  could  not  make  up  my  mind  to  resign  them  to 

the  hands  of  strangers  for  the  selection  of  their  future 

homes,  I  preferred  going  with   them   and  buying  a 

farm,  where  I  could  make  a  home  for  the  little  ones, 

and    headquarters   for  those   who  had  already  been 

placed ;  for  it  would  obviously  be  worse  than  useless 

to  send  boys  and  girls  across  the  sea,  without  a  home 

within  reach  of  them,  with  their  own  people  there  to 

look  after  their  interests,  and  to  hear  constantly  how 

they  are  gettin^  on.     One  great  trouble  to  us  all  in 

this  was,  that  it  dividec    the  work  and  divided  the 

workers,  and  in  great  measure  broke  up  what  had 

been  for  so  m  ny  years  a  happy  and  useful  Home 

party  in  Scotlan   .     Still,  for  the  sake  of  our  children, 

we  will  do  a  great  deal.     I  felt  it  was  for  the  best  to 

go  and  transfer  my  efforts  to  the  new  farm,  where  I 

could  feed  the  little  ones  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  in 

69 


70 


OUR    CHILDREN. 


f  P 


11 
f 


ti 


■ill 


Scotland.  I  told  the  directors  eighteen  months  before 
this  was  the  only  way  I  could  see  of  continuing  the 
work,  and  left  it  to  thcin  whether  they  would  continue 
to  co-operate  with  me  or  not.  As  I  said  before,  they 
decided  to  do  so.  Some  of  my  most  active  workers 
joined  the  party,  which  was  divided  into  two  sections. 
I  may  mention  that  complete  lists  of  children  were 
formally  submitted  to  the  directors  before  starting. 

In  the  end  of  May,  1886,  I  sailed  with  twenty-five 
children  and  sufficient  helpers  to  take  care  of  them, 
leaving  the  rest  to  follow  when  we  were  ready  to 
receive  them. 

It  is  said,  "  He  that  trusteth  in  the  Lord,  mercy 
shall  compass  him  about";  and  so  it  was  with  us. 
We  set  out,  not  knowing  exactly  where  we  should  find 
a  home,  but  trusting  in  the  same  God  who  has  led  us 
and  {ft^  us  all  these  years,  and  He  has  not  disap- 
pointed us. 

Kind  friends  in  Edinburgh  asked  us  to  breakfast 
the  morning  we  started  for  Liverpool,  and  wished  us 
God  speed.  After  breakfast  they  sang  witli  us  the 
grand  old  words  beginning  : — 

"  God  is  our  Refuge  and  our  Strength, 
In  straits  a  present  aid, 

Therefore,  although  the  hills  remove, 

.» ■- 

.  ^  .    '- _  We  will  not  be  afraid ;" 

and  read  the  ninety-first  Psalm,  the  Traveller's  Psalm, 
as  some  one  has  called  it ;  and  ever  since,  if  anxious 


\ 


IfOlV   TllEY  GOT   THERE, 


7« 


or  perplexed  on  land  or  sea,  v/e  seem  to  hear  the 
words  again,  so  that  we  have  been  kept  from  ever 
being  afraid.  It  seemed  very  hartl  to  leave  so  many 
kind  friends  that  morning.  It  seemed  as  if  they  were 
sorry  to  have  us  go ;  but  still  for  "  our  children"  what 
cannot  one  do  ?  And  the  necessity  was  the  same  as 
it  was  in  the  olden  time  to  Jacob's  sons,  when  they 
heard  there  was  corn  in  ICgypt.  Wac's  mc,  there 
seemed  to  be  little  bread  in  Scotland,  especially  for 
"our  'children";  and  so,  when  we  had  heard  the  last 
"  good-bye"  atul  "  God  bless  you"  on  the  railway 
platform,  and  had  seen  the  last  friendly  face  at  the 
carriage  window,  we  could  only  feel  thankful  that  so 
many  would  think  of  and  pray  for  us  and  our  little 
ones,  and  would  carry  on  the  work  of  caring  for  our 
cliildren  while  we  were  far  away  doing  what  we  could. 
But  we  did  not  leave  all  our  friends  in  Edinburgh, 
for  at  Liverpool  a  dear  friend  and  constant  helper 
suddenly  appeared,  to  the  great  delight  of  our  chil- 
dren (who  had  not  expected  to  see  her) ;  and  as  Liver- 
pool was  to  them  a  "  far-awa-place,"  almost  beyond 
human  ken,  her  appearance  on  the  stair  of  our  rest- 
ing-place seemed  little  short  of  supernatural ;  "  no 
a'thcgithcr  canny !"  but  the  reality  soon  proved  it.self 
in  the  embodied  spirit,  full  of  kindness  and  help,  and 
an  immense  stock  of  sweeties.  Our  children  were 
soon  all  put  to  bed.  The  older  folks  had  still  various 
arrangements  which  kept  us  busy  till  late. 


1 


I  i, 

U  '-    \ 


':  i  ' 


ITS      h 


72 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


The  next  morning  saw  us  early  up  and  away  to  the 
Alexandria  Dock,  where  all  went  smooth,  and  very 
soon  we  found  ourselves  on  board  the  big  ship  Cas- 
pian. Our  children  attracted  a  good  deal  of  atten- 
tion, with  their  Scotch  tongues,  neat  cloaks,  and 
bright  fisherman's  caps,  which  I  devised  as  a  means 
of  keeping  them  in  sight ;  for  when  we  saw  the  red 
knitted  cap,  we  knew  the  little  head  inside  must  be- 
long to  one  of  "  our  children."  Remember,  so  many 
were  under  eight  years  old,  four  below  four  years.  I 
took  the  very  little  ones  with  us,  for  I  knew  those  to 
follow  would  have  enough  to  do  without  such  a  heavy 
handful.  The  youngest  of  the  party,  a  fat,  good- 
natured  baby  of  two  years,  seemed  to  enjoy  the  whole 
thing  as  well  as  any  one. 

Everything  comes  to  an  end ;  so  does  even  waiting 
in  dock  for  a  ship  to  sail.  At  last  all  is  ready ;  our 
last  friend  says  good-bye ;  we  say  good-bye  too,  the 
children  give  a  cheer  for  her ;  some  of  us  feel  a  little 
as  if  we  could  cry  ;  ropes,  chains,  etc.,  seem  to  make 
a  little  more  noise,  and  we  are  off! 

There  is  plenty  to  do  to  look  after  our  children. 
The  matron  and  girls  are  busy  doing  everything ;  I 
relapse  into  uselessness,  feel  ashamed  of  doing  noth- 
ing, but  I  can't  help  it ;  I  am  a  shocking  sailor.  It  is 
said  somewhere,  '*  Many  waters  cannot  quench  love, 
neither  can  the  floods  drown  it."  I  often  think  that 
that  is  a  good  thing ;  for  if  they  could,  the  waters  of 


\ 


NO IV   THEY  GOT    THERE. 


73 


the  Atlantic  would  certainly  quench  mine  for  our  chil- 
dren. As  it  is,  and  there  is  no  other  way  to  Nova 
Scotia,  I  do  my  best.  The  others  are  very  kind  to 
me,  and  do  all  they  can  for  me;  it  is  not  much,  and 
their  efforts  are  better  bestowed  on  our  children,  who 
are  extremely  ill  to  begin  with,  and  then,  with  the 
fickleness  of  youHi,  become  lively  and  active,  and  used 
to  the  ship  as  if  they  were  old  sailors.  They  come 
and  see  me  in  detachments ;  by-and-by  I  am  able  to 
be  dragged  on  deck,  and  we  have  great  times ;  merci- 
fully, the  rest  of  our  party  are  excellent  sailors.  The 
passengers  are  very  kind  to  the  children,  and  like  to 
hear  them  sing :  so  they  had  a  frequent  resource  in 
singing  their  Scotch  songs  and  school  rhymes,  as  well 
as  the  hymns  of  which  they  are  so  fond.  Of  all  this 
I  knew  nothing  for  many  days,  but  on  Sunday  we  had 
a  lovely  day,  and  I  was  able  to  be  at  service  in  the 
morning.  We  had  a  children's  service  in  the  after- 
noon, and  I  was  asked  to  let  them  stay  up  a  little  to 
sing  hymns  with  all  on  board  in  the  evening,  which 
they  enjoyed  extremely. 

Next  day  we  began  to  see  ice,  and  then  our  progress 
became  slow,  owing  to  the  fog  being  more  dense  than 
usual. 

On  Wednesday  we  reached  St.  John's,  Newfound- 
land. We  did  not  go  ashore,  but  enjoyed  the  warm 
afternoon  on  deck,  when  the  sun  had  broken  through 
the  fog,  and  shone  brilliantly  on  the  rocky  cliffs  of  St. 


I 


74 


f)/7,'  iininKEW 


John's  liarhour  and  sonic  of  the  vessels  of  tlie  squad- 
ron lying  tlicre. 

It  was  a  pretty  sijrht,  and  land  is  pleasant  after  beinjj 
ten  days  at  sea.  In  the  eveniii}^  some  friends  catne  on 
board  to  see  us. 

They  said  they  had  the  greatest  sympathy  with  the 
work,  antl  wished  to  shake  hands  with  me  and  wish 
me  God  speed,  ami  would  have  liked  to  see  our  chil- 
dren. One  saiti,  "  If  he  had  known  of  our  coming, 
he  would  have  had  us  all  come  to  his  house."  As  it 
was,  our  children  were  in  bed,  and  I  did  not  wish  to 
disturb  them,  a  bad  night  being  no  joke.  I  was  very 
grateful  to  the  visitors,  however,  and  felt  it  was  a  good 
omen,  antl  an  indication  of  the  welcome  we  were  to 
receive  later  on. 

I  must  tell  you  about  the  icebergs,  b'ancy  !  we  saw 
seventeen  the  day  we  left  St.  John's,  from  the  deck 
at  one  time.  They  are  most  wonderful,  like  masses 
of  statuary — figures  of  lions,  bears,  obelisks,  sphinxes 
— one  exactly  like  Ben  Nevis,  others  fluted  with 
pillars,  like  pictures  I  have  seen  of  StalTa  and  the 
Giant's  Causeway,  one  or  two  like  a  Swiss  scene — a 
snowy  mountain  in  the  background,  and  on  its  side 
and  beneath  on  the  plain,  villages  with  gable  roofs, 
churches  and  snow-sprinkled  pine  trees  glistening  all 
over  with  prismatic  colours.  It  was  difficult  to  realize 
that  the  visionary  houses  were  built  by  no  human 
hand,   or  that   from   the    tapering   church   spires  no 


I 


/A'//'    IHh  V   (.or    ////,7.7';. 


75 


Sabbath  bell  bad  ever  rung.  One  fancied  the  spirits 
of  the  air  had  helped  John  Frost  to  represent  what 
they  had  seen  and  admired  on  the  earth. 

l^ut  with  all  the  pleasures  of  the  voyage,  F  was  truly 
thankftd  when  we  al!  j^ot  safely  off  the  ship,  for  our 
children  had  such  a  merry  time  duK :int(  about  on 
deck,  with  skipping-ropes  and  ^ames,  tfiat  \  felt  a 
little  nervous  that  one  or  two  mi<(ht  skip  overboard  ! 
We  saw  several  whales,  and  whenever  they  were  visi- 
ble the  excitement  was  overpowering.  Not  that  there 
was  any  real  cause  for  anxiety  about  the  little  ones,  as 
the  sailors  and  everybody  were  so  careful  of  them, 
and  both  the  ship's  company  and  passengers  extremely 
kind  to  them.  Many  w  re  the  words  of  counsel  and 
encouragement,  as  well  as  gifts  of  fruit  and  goodies 
which  found  their  way  to  our  children'.s  quarter.  But 
still  I  felt  we  had  much  cause  for  thankfulness  when 
we  all  landed  safely  at  Halifax  early  on  the  5th  June, 
and  went  into  temporary  (juarters  until  I  could  ar- 
range our  future  plans. 


CHAPTER    X. 


WHAT   THEY    DID    ON    LANDING   THERE. 


'5  ■,.- 


In  be|;inning  the  story  of  our  life  in  Nova  Scotia,  I 
may  say  once  for  all  that  when  I  say  "  /,"  and  speak 
thus  in  the  first  person  singular,  /  hereby  include  our 
children,  as  my  life  was  now  more  than  ever  identical 
with  theirs.  I  was  now  aioue  with  them,  to  work  for 
them,  to  shelter  and  take  care  of  them,  to  protect  their 
interests  in  every  way — in  short,  to  live  and  die  for 
them.  As  I  told  friends  and  the  public  fore  leaving 
Scotland, "  I  had  given  them  all  I  had,  and  now  I  had 
nothing  more  to  give  except  myself,  to  go  to  Nova 
Scotia,  and  do  my  best  for  them  there." 

This,  God  knows,  I  have  done.  By  day  and  night, 
in  winter  and  summer,  in  health  and  sickness,  our 
children  and  I  have  been  inseparable. 

It  is  also  fair  to  everybody  to  state  that  the  direc- 
tors, to  whom  reference  has  been  made  in  former 
chapters,  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Home  in  Nova 
Scotia,  except  to  send  children  to  it  as  I  was  willing 
to  receive  them.  After  settling  the  party  in  Halifax, 
I  went  in  search  of  our  future  home,  and  in  a  few 
days  ;aw  what  I  thought  extremely  suitable  for  the 
76 


lyj/AT   niEY  DID    ON  LANDING    THERE. 


77 


purpose.  I  had  been  guitlcJ  by  the  advice  of  Dr. 
Lawson,  Secretary  of  Agriculture  for  Nova  Scotia,  as 
to  the  points  to  attend  to  in  choosing  a  farm;  and 
the  vahic  of  his  assistance  has  become  more  and  more 
apparent  as  time  has  gone  on.  So  much  for  tlie 
general  choice.  When  it  came  to  tlie  "  short  lect" 
I  had  the  benefit  of  practical  help  from  Mr.  Herbeit 
Stairs  and  Mr.  Leander  I'^iton,  both  well  known  as 
excellent  practical  farmers  in  the  province :  to  these 
and  all  the  other  friends  who  helped  us  in  many  ways, 
my  best  thanks  are  due. 

Before  we  could  move  to  the  farm,  however,  we  had 
a  time  of  waiting  and  trial  in  Halifax,  owing  to  the 
severe  illness  of  one  of  my  boys,  who  was  seized  with 
enteric  fever,  and  had  to  be  nursed  in  a  separate 
house  from  the  other  children.  At  last,  alter  several 
anxious  weeks,  it  pleased  God  to  restore  him  suffi- 
ciently to  be  removed  to  the  country,  where  he 
speedily  picked  up  health  and  strength,  and  became 
again  the  rosy  active  boy  he  was  in  Scotland.  For 
this  blessing  we  were  indebted,  humanly  speaking,  to 
the  unremitting  care  and  attention  of  Drs.  Farrell  and 
Cogswell,  as  well  as  those  friends  who  helped  us  by 
sitting  up  with  him.  I  take  this  opportunity  of 
thanking  them  all. 

'  A  letter  from  Dr.  Lawson  will  be  found  in  another  chapter, 
giving  his  opinion  of  our  success,  and  the  farm  as  it  is  at  the 
present  date — 1892. 


i:!iHj; 


■'  f 


'  ^y.;.^  V 


78 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


In  July  we  were  joined  by  my  friend  Mr.  H- 


\ 


it ' 


r: 


and  he  began  the  work  of  the  farm  just  at  the  busiest 
time  of  year,  when  hay  was  the  crop  in  hand. 

As  soon  as  my  boy  was  able  to  rejoin  the  other 
children,  I  went  to  the  farm,  to  see  about  enlarging 
the  house,  and  adapting  the  place  generally  to  our 
requirements. 

Now  I  must  try  and  describe  Hillfoot  Farm  as  I 
found  it  in  1886.  It  lies  in  the  Annapolis  Valley, 
about  one  hundred  miles  from  Halifax,  in  what  is 
known  as  the  Garden  of  Nova  Scotia,  sheltered  by 
the  North  Mountain,  as  it  is  called,  though  there  is 
nothing  like  a  mountain  about  it,  no  rugged  steeps, 
or  uncultivated  moorland — a  green  swelling  range  of 
hills,  with  here  and  there  a  brook,  and  here  and  there 
a  wood.  Spruce  and  hemlock  trees  are  abundant, 
but  there  is  also  a  variety  of  "  hard  wood,"  as  beech, 
birch,  maple,  ash,  and  oak  are  called.  There  are  also 
plenty  of  "  willows  by  the  water-courses" ;  some  of 
them  are  very  fine  trees,  many  have  been  planted  by 
the  French  when  Nova  Scotia  was  called  Acadia.  In 
many  places  the  pasture  on  the  hillside  is  broken  up 
by  the  plough,  and  excellent  crops  of  potatoes  and 
oats  are  growing  on  it.  Turnips  at  that  time  were 
more  scarce ;  but  we  have  raised  them  largely,  and 
they  seem  to  be  coming  more  into  fashion.  Lower 
down  in  the  valley  more  Indian  corn  and  squash  are 
to  be  seen,  and  quantities  of  hay.  , 


lVf/A7    THEY  Dip    ON  LANDING    Til  EKE. 


79 


AD  over  the  valley,  whether  on  hill  or  in  valley,  the 
apples  grow  as  natural  fruit;  of  course  the  orchards 
consist  of  trees  grafted  with  fine  kinds,  and  the  effect 
is  beautiful,  whether  in  the  early  summer,  when  the 
blossom  is  on  the  trees,  or  later  on  in  the  season, 
when  from  the  beginning  of  August  till  the  end  of 
October,  it  is  the  principal  industry  to  gather  and 
pack  for  sale  the  wealth  of  the  orchards,  bending 
with  their  weight  of  splendid  fruit,  of  all  colours,  so 
that  at  a  little  distance  no  leaves  are  very  apparent, 
and  you  only  see  a  tree,  red,  crimson,  golden  russet, 
bright  green,  pink,  and  yellow — in  short,  all  colours 
except  blue. 

I  think  our  farm  is  one  of  the  prettiest  in  this 
pretty  neighbourhood,  lying  as  it  does  on  the  sunny 
side  of  the  mountain ;  the  house  is  shaded  by  some 
large  willow  trees,  in  all  probability  planted  by  the 
French. 

The  orchards  lie  behind  it,  and  on  the  tableland  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountain  there  is  an  excellent  situation 
to  be  in  time  filled  up  with  fruit  trees,  which  will 
bring  the  orchards  into  one.  It  is  well  sheltered  by 
the  rising  ground  to  the  west.  In  front  of  the  house 
is  a  fine  meadow  of  fifty  acres,  fairly  well  cleared,  but 
with  the  stones  left  in  heaps  of  various  sizes,  which 
we  shall  find  use  for  by-and-by.  The  rest  of  the 
tillage  land  and  pasture  extends  to  210  acres,  well 
sheltered   by  the  "  Woodlot"  or  natural  forest,  and 


So 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


dotted  here  and  there  with  clumps  of  spruce  and 
deciduous  trees,  and  any  quantity  of  apples.  There 
arc  also  larire  quantities  of  wild  raspberries,  black- 
berries, and  blueberries ;  so  we  are  at  no  loss  for  jam. 
Hy-and-by  we  shall  cultivate  mall  fruit  as  well  as 
orchard  produce. 

There  are  lovely  views  in  every  direction.  Two 
miles  off  is  the  village  of  Aylesford,  with  its  pretty 
houses,  railway  station,  post-office,  and  three  churches. 
The  house  was  a  small,  old-fashioned  farm-house, 
thirty  by  forty  feet,  with  small  L  (or  wing)  for  kitchen 
and  woodshed,  one  and  a  half  stories  high,  the  lower 
flat  divided  into  a  wonderful  number  of  tiny  rooms, 
with  two  staircases,  so  narrow  and  steep  that  it  was  to 
me  a  marvel  how  any  person  of  ordinary  proportions 
ever  succeeded  in  getting  up  or  down,  i,  however, 
managed  to  get  to  the  top,  and  found  myself  in  what 
is  called  in  Nova  Scotia  an  "  unfinished  chamber,"  that 
is,  an  attic  merely  partitioned  with  rough  boards,  with 
no  plaster,  but  with  windows,  and  in  warm  weather 
quite  fit  to  sleep  in.  The  roof  slopes  down  nearly  to 
the  floor.  I  was  strongly  reminded  of  mice,  and  heard 
one  half  had  been  used  as  a  granary.  It  was  evident 
that  much  must  be  done  before  the  accommodation 
could  be  made  in  any  degree  sufficient  for  our  large 
family.  I  therefore,  as  soon  as  possible,  rented  two 
cottages  in  the  neighbourhood,  one  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
to  the  east,  the  other  half-way  to  Aylesford,  so  that 


IV/IAT   THE  V  DID    ON  LANDING    THERE. 


8i 


we  had  no  lack  of  bedrooms,  and  used  to  meet  at  the 
farm  in  time  for  breakfast.  The  house  there  being 
speedily  in  the  hands  of  workmen,  we  lived  chiefly 
outside !  The  alterations  had  be^un  actively  two 
or  three  weeks  before  I  brought  the  children  from 
Halifax.  The  first  thing  I  did  was  to  knock  down 
almost  all  the  partitions  in  the  house.  There  is  only 
one  room  left  now  as  it  was  then,  or  nearly  so,  always 
known  as  the  parlour.  When  the  rest  of  the  space 
was  cleared,  it  gave  us  a  good-sized  hall  and  staircase 
in  the  middle,  the  parlour  aforesaid  to  the  west,  and 
to  the  east  a  larger  room,  divided  from  the  hall  by 
folding  doors,  which,  when  finished,  was  in  those  days 
the  living-room  of  the  family.  At  the  time  I  am 
writing  of  it  was  not  finished,  had  not  even  windows 
in  it,  but  the  weather  was  fine,  and  we  were  not  easily 
discouraged.  The  parlour  was  the  only  room  we  had. 
In  it  we  had  our  meals,  at  least  for  the  grown-up 
people.  The  children,  fortunately,  were  conten  A^ith 
the  greater  freedom  of  the  porch.  When  the  table 
was  cleared  of  food  it  was  speedily  replaced  by  sewing, 
clothes  to  be  ironed,  letters  to  be  written,  apples  to  be 
pared,  and  a  host  of  odd  jobs  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion— all  had  to  be  done  in  that  wonderful  room.  No 
wonder  I  have  a  liking  for  it — for  the  sake  of  that 
busy  struggling  season.  A*"  this  time  I  did  all  the 
driving  of  express  waggon  necessary,  having  no  one 
else  to  do  it.     The  first  day  I  was  in  Aylesford,  after 


m 


mm 


mmmm 


82 


0[/A'   CHILDREN. 


the  children  came,  I  drove  fourteen  hours — from  5.30 
A.M.  till  8.30  P.M.,  with  very  short  intervals  for  break- 
fast, dinner,  and  tea — in  order  to  get  our  goods  from 
the  station  and  the  actual  necessaries  of  life  that  we 
could  not  do  without. 

Then  the  next  thing  was  to  add  a  storey  to  the 
house,  and  I  was  told  the  easiest  way  was  to  raise 
the  roof  bodily ^  and  build  chambers  in  between.  No 
sooner  was  this  begun  than  I  found  it  would  be  better 
for  the  sick  boy  to  sleep  on  the  premises.  So,  with 
my  maid,  I  elected  to  stay  with  him. 

I  must  say  I  felt  a  little  nervous  when,  in  the  course 
of  the  afternoon,  I  looked  up  and  savv  the  roof  under 
which  we  were  to  sleep  raised  on  blocks  about  nine  feet 
above  its  original  position,  like  an  i  mbrella.  How- 
ever, I  was  told  there  was  no  danger,  and  in  the  oelief 
of  this  we  slept  like  tops  !  I  have  since  been  thankful 
the  nights  were  calm. 

All  this  time  our  children  were  leaving  us  and  going 
to  new  homes,  where  they  received  a  warm  welcome, 
and  gave  great  satisfaction.  In  September  the  second 
party  arrived — thirty-six.  I  went  to  meet  them  in 
Halifax,  and  when  we  reached  Aylesford  the  whole 
neighbourhood  assembled  at  the  railway  station  to  bid 
us  welcome,  and  brought  their  "  teams,"  or  waggons, 
to  help  us  to  carry  the  party  and  their  baggage  home  ; 
and  as  they  kindly  thought  T  should  be  less  comfort- 
able at  our  unfinished  house,  from  the  influx  of  so 


IVIJAT   THEY  DID    ON  LANDING    THEKE. 


83 


many  of  our  children,  they  had  arranged  that  I  should 
visit  each  of  the  neighbours  \\\  turn  until  my  rooms 
were  supposed  to  be  fit  to  bo  occupied  ;  and  I  must  say 
their  evident  sympathy  with,  and  pleasure  in,  the 
welfiue  of  our  children  was  very  comforting  and  re- 
assuring. 

I  remained  at  the  farm  till  November,  when  I  re- 
ceived very  urgent  requests  from  Scotland  to  go  hon:e, 
so  that  I  gave  up  the  idea  of  staying  the  winter.  I 
sailed  in  the  steamship  Carthaginian  from  Halifax  on 
the  Sth  November,  returning  in  April,  1887. 


11  . 


CHAPTER   XI. 


WHAT   WE    DID    IN    1 887-8. 

In  the  last  chapter  I  told  you  of  the  work  we  had 
to  begin  on  our  arrival  at  Hillfoot  Farm,  of  enlarging 
and  adapting  the  farmhouse  to  the  wants  of  its  new 
and  numerous  tenants.  I  left  all  in  order  as  far  as  I 
could  for  completing  the  new  wing  (or  L  as  it  is 
called  in  Nova  Scotia)  to  the  east  of  the  old  house,  and 
which  was  to  contain  kitchen,  laundry,  nursery,  store- 
room, bath-rooms  downstairs ;  and  upstairs,  six  good 
large  bedrooms,  and  over  that  the  boys'  attics.  T^'s 
part  of  the  building  was  framed,  roofed  and  finished  out- 
side before  I  left,  but  inside  much  had  to  be  done,  and 
the  inconvenience  was  considerable.  However,  with 
good  fires,  and  happily  a  mild  winter,  no  one  seemed 
to  suffer  from  it.  Our  children  grew  and  throve.  They 
were  in  great  request,  and  went  to  homes  as  quickly 
as  the  necessary  inquiries  could  be  made,  which, 
according  to  my  plan,  takes  some  little  time.  But  in 
the  spring  so  many  had  gone  that  there  was  room  for 
another  large  party,  and  I  went  out  in  April  with  fifty- 
six  children. 

As  my  friend  Mr.  H proposed  joining  a  rela- 

84 


WHAT  WE   DID   IN  1887-8. 


85 


tive  in  British  Columbia,  I  took  with  me  as  farmer 
one  who  had  been  in  my  service  in  Scotland  for  many- 
years  ;  and  on  our  arrival  we  set  to  work  in  earnest 
to  complete  the  main  building,  and  to  make  an  effi- 
cient set  of  stone  drains  in  order  to  carry  off  the 
surface  water,  which  at  some  seasons  rushes  down 
the  mountain  with  considerable  force.  Besides  doing 
this,  we  re-laid  the  pipes  which  conduct  the  water  to 
the  house  from  the  springs  on  the  mountains,  and 
then  proceeded  to  fence  the  orchards  and  pasture. 
This,  with  the  necessary  work  of  crops  and  caring  for 
the  stock  already  on  hand,  was  as  much  as  we  could 
undertake  that  season,  and  we  felt  it  better  to  leave 
other  improvements  until  we  had  completed  those 
begun.  I  forgot  to  mention  what  has  been  of  great 
profit,  and  that  is  an  arrangement  for  collecting  the 
soapsuds  from  the  laundry,  and  applying  it  to  the 
crops  by  means  of  a  water  cart. 

But  all  this  time,  to  my  great  annoyance,  the  front 
side  of  the  house,  with  only  the  road  between,  was 
still  disfigured  by  the  old  barns,  stables,  etc.,  which 
had  to  be  left  until  we  could  do  better.  Early  that 
fall  we  laid  out  a  fruit  garden  to  the  west  of  the  house, 
with  strawberries  and  raspberries ;  the  black  and  red 
currants  and  gooseberries  we  brought  from  Scotland 
next  year — and  this  has  been  most  productive — so 
that  in  October,  1887,  I  again  returned  to  Scotland, 
leaving  the  party  at  the  Home  wonderfully  more  com- 


[|;^-l 


^rr 


86 


OUR    CHILDREN. 


fortable  than  any  of  us  had  been  on  our  arrival,  but 
still  in  want  of  more  accommodation,  and  many  com- 
forts and  conveniences  which  I  proposed  to  add  as 
opportunity  served.  At  this  time  I  determined  to 
wind  up  my  personal  responsibility  with  regard  to 
the  Homes  in  Scotland,  and  to  transfer  my  efforts 
to  forwarding  the  interests  of  our  children  in  Nova 
Scotia.  My  time  in  Scotland  that  winter  was  mainly 
occupied  in  carrying  this  out,  and  arranging  for  the 
final  exodus  of  such  workers  as  had  decided  to  accom- 
pany our  children  to  New  Scotland. 

In  this  I  was  much  aided  by  my  farmer,  who  had 
returned  to  Scotland  with  me  in  October,  1887,  and 
in  March  following  sailed  with  a  party  of  boys  and 
girls,  who  were  accompanied  by  a  matron  from  one 
of  the  Girls'  Homes.  To  accommodate  the  boys  I 
had  again  to  rent  a  house  close  by.  I  followed  in 
April,  having  now  no  home  of  my  own  in  Scotland. 
As  may  be  supposed,  this  was  a  very  trying  time  for 
me,  both  as  regards  the  history  of  the  work,  in 
leaving  the  Homes  in  Scotland,  where  I  had  worked 
so  long,  and  been  the  means  of  rescuing  so  many 
children  from  cruelty,  to  be  carried  on  by  others — 
and  trying,  too,  as  regarded  my  own  personal  feeling. 
Remember,  I  was  literally  leaving  all — my  own  home, 
and  its  comforts,  country,  friends,  and  kindred.  I  was 
going  away  for  at  least  three  years,  to  fight  a  hand- 
to-hand  battle  with  poverty  and  hard  work,  heavily 


IVHAT  WE  DID   IN  1887-8, 


87 


L 


weighted  with  a  number  of  young  and  helpless  chil- 
dren. Surely  no  one  can  doubt  the  Un>e  for  them 
which  induced  me  to  do  this !  I  thank  the  God  of 
all  mercies  that  I  have  been  successful  in  providing 
for  so  many. 

I  cannot  leave  this  stage  in  my  journey  without 
thanking  my  dear  friend  Miss  Hope  Johnstone  for  her 
great  kindness  and  hospitality  to  me  during  my  last 
fortnight  at  that  time  in  Scotland,  which  I  spent  with 
her  at  her  beautiful  place,  Marchbankwood,  and  there 
regained  sufficient  strength  to  enable  me  to  undertake 
the  voyage,  worn  out  as  I  was  by  the  work,  care,  and 
anxiety  consequent  on  such  an  undertaking.  I  believe, 
but  for  this  timely  rest  and  tender  nursing,  I  would 
not  have  been  able  either  for  the  voyage  or  the  work 
which  lay  before  rae  on  my  landing ;  and  I  shall 
be  grateful  all  my  life.  In  May  another  party  of  chil- 
dren were  sent  by  the  directors  in  charge  of  suitable 
escort.  This  party  had  been  joined  by  several  chil- 
dren from  Miss  Croall's  Home  for  Destitute  Children, 
in  Stirling. 

Having  now  mustered  our  part)  we  lost  no  time 
in  using  the  fine  weather  to  complete  the  house  ac- 
commodation required  for  a  permanent  colony.  In 
the  meantime  I  rented  a  commodious  farmhouse  close 
by  for  the  new-comers.  That  summer,  1888,  we 
actually  built  and  adapted  three  houses  ;  one  is  the 
north  wing  to  the  main  house,  which  was  required  to 


88 


OUR  crnr.DKEN, 


give  schoolrocMii,  siimtncr  kitclit.i,  and  store-rooms, 
lai  ge  enough  for  our  w'nter  supplies ;  for  as  we  eat 
wholesale  (as  to  numbers),  I  have  to  buy  wholesale, 
and  flour  and  meal  by  the  car-load.  In  this  north 
wing  there  are  three  nice  bedrooms  ;  one  is  known  as 
the  "  Prophet's  Chamber,"  or  "Hole  in  the  Wall." 
like  Elisha  was  made  welcome  to  long  ago,  just 
enough  to  hold  a  bed,  a  table,  a  chair,  an('  a  lamp — we 
don't  use  candlesticks !  This  is,  as  its  name  imjilies, 
set  apart  for  the  ministers  who  come  by  turns  to  preach 
to  us  once  in  four  weeks,  and  thus  we  have  service 
every  Sunday  evening.  At  a  quarter  to  seven  the  big 
bell  (now  promoted  to  a  cupola  on  the  top  of  the 
house)  rings  a  cheery  summons,  and  we  all  assemble, 
with  the  many  neighbours,  who  gather  often  to  the 
number  of  one  hundred,  to  worship  God  in  the  school- 
room, and  hear  the  message  the  minister  has  to 
tell  us. 

He  has  probably  driven  a  long  way  to  deliver  it,  for 
country  circuits  in  these  parts  are  very  extensive.  A 
large  number  of  young  men  attend  these  meetings, 
and  come  a  long  way  to  do  so.  They  are  now  most 
orderly,  and  certainly  listen  with  great  attention  to 
the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  the  free  Gospel,  the  Good 
News  of  the  Love  of  God,  and  salvation  now  by  the 
ly>rd  Jesus  Christ  offered  freely  to  all.  Our  watch- 
word is  "Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save 
SMmers."    This  is  every  Sunday  evening  afTectionately 


IVfMr  IVF.    DID   IN  1S87-8. 


89 


pressed  upon  all,  thon^Mi  no  doubt  from  various  j)oint.s 
of  view — for  we  try  not  to  make  the  meeting  tiresome 
or  formal,  liut  TIIIC  Ml^^SSAGI'I  is  always  ^Mven  ;  and 
that  the  people  arc  impressed  is  shown  by  the  regu- 
larity and  interest  with  which  they  attend  the  nieet- 
in<:js.  Our  children  lead  the  sin«;ing,  and  all  join 
heartily. 

Before  we  had  the  schoolroom  these  meetings  were 
held  in  the  dining-room  and  hall  thrown  together  by 
folding  doors;  but  now,  having  larger  accommodation 
and  a  separate  entrance,  we  can  invite  and  provide  for 
many  more. 

I  ought  to  add  that  the  Sunday  evening  service 
is  very  often  turned  into  a  Temperance  meeting  ;  but 
this  will  come  under  the  head  of  Temperance  Work, 
in  another  chapter.  As  to  pu+)lic  worship,  we  arc 
three  miles  from  the  village  churches,  but  still  we 
gQ  in  considerable  numbers.  All  walk  who  can  do 
so,  and  those  who  cannot,  drive,  or  take  it  in  turn  to 
stay  at  home.  We  are  perfectly  unsectarian,  and 
are  helped  and  referred  to  alike  by  minister's  of  all 
Protestant  denominations  —  PrcRbyterian,  Episcopa- 
lian, Methodist  or  Haptist.  Every  Sunday  we  have 
regular  Sunday  8c|inpl  yf\\\y  \\)c  p|d-(^ij||)p||ed  cpn- 
comitant  of  "  Sunday  sweeties"  and  reward  tlrkets, 
which  are  preserved  carefully  alld  [Jrt.slcd  inln  $  jinrik 
for  each  child  as  a  remembrance  of  "  Sundays  at 
Home."     We  have  also  plenty  of  singing  all  thrpugh 


90 


OUR  c/ffrnRE/\r. 


the  Siibbath  Day.  So  much  for  our  north  wiii^  and 
its  uses. 

Besides  this  wing  wc  built,  that  summer  of  1888,  a 
new  and  pretty  house  for  our  farmer  in  a  convenient 
situation  near  the  proposed  site  of  the  New  Barn. 
Close  to  it  is  the  Boys'  House,  which,  though  we  did 
not  build,  we  finished  and  adapted.  This  is  a  won- 
derful country  for  easily  changing  everything,  even 
the  situation  of  buildings;  houses,  barns,  and  churches 
move  along  the  road  contentedly,  and  take  up  new 
quarters  apparently  without  sufifering  in  the  process; 
so  our  boys'  house  walked  or  rolled  up  the  road 
nearly  half  a  mile,  and  there  it  is  as  comfortable  as 
possible — a  good  two-storey  dwelling ;  and  there  live 
our  working  lads  and  boys  above  ten  years,  with  their 
housekeeper.     So  muth  for  buildings  completed. 

In  honour  of  this  crisis  in  our  history  as  settlers,  I 
took  the  opportunity  of  expressing  my  gratitude  to  all 
those  friends  who  had  so  kindly  welcomed  and  helped 
us  on  our  arrival,  by  having  a  great "  house  warming" 
at  Christmas,  our  acquaintance  being  large  and  dis- 
tricts scattered.  I  felt  the  utter  hopelessness  of  send- 
ing out  invitations ;  so  the  various  clergymen  within 
reach  kindly  announced  the  Sunday  before  Christmas 
that  "  Miss  Stirling  would  be  at  Home  on  the  4th 
January,  from  4  to  8  p.m.,  and  would  be  glad  to  see 
any  friends  of  our  children  who  would  like  to  visit 
her  at  that  time."  ^,....^.^.„..--- 


WHAT  UK   DID    IX  1SS7-S. 


9« 


The  invitation  was  acceplci.!,  if  not  from  **  Dan  to 
Beershcba,"  at  least  from  a  radius  of  over  eight  miles. 
The  result  was  a  gathering  of  800  people. 

But  we  were  ready  for  them.  All  hands  in  all  the 
houses  had  been  busy  baking  cakes  and  preparing 
other  good  things,  and  the  men  and  boys  had  done 
their  share  in  decorating  the  rooms.  I  threw  open 
the  whole  lower  part  of  the  house,  brought  down  all 
our  pictures  (including  many  views  of  Scotland,  in 
which  our  friends  were  much  interested)  to  the  ser- 
vants' hall  and  corridor. 

The  schoolroom  was  lined  with  the  beautiful  cards 
of  object  lessons,  which  were  given  to  us  before  leaving 
Scotland  by  the  Granton  Public  School,  and  which 
were  greatly  admired.  We  had  as  much  music  as 
possible.  The  musical  boxes  and  '*  Bunny s  perform- 
ance" gave  great  satisfaction.  Bunny  is  a  wonderful 
mechanical  rabbit,  who  is  one  of  the  most  •  alued  pos- 
sessions of  our  children,  who  does  wonders  ! !  There 
was  a  Christmas  tree  in  the  schoolroom,  from  which 
the  visitors  bought  little  things  for  the  benefit  of  our 
children.  We  had  fortunately  provided  plenty  of  tea, 
cake,  and  fruit  in  the  dining-room.  Our  more  inti- 
mate friends  were  most  kind  in  attending  to  and 
entertaining  the  guests  and  helping  the  cause  gen- 
erally. And  at  8  o'clock  precisely  the  assembly 
broke  up,  declaring  they  had  enjoyed  themselves 
thoroi'ghly. 


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CHAPTER    XII. 


VARIOUS    EVENTS    IN    1889-9O. 

At  the  close  of  the  last  year  I  had  bought,  to  great 
advantage,  a  wood  lot  of  fifty  acres,  with  a  view  to 
building  the  new  barn ;  and  after  the  Christmas 
holidays  the  men  and  big  boys  set  to  work  to  chop 
timber  for  it.  This  they  did  so  energetically  that 
while  some  of  our  neighbours  were  lamenting  they 
could  hardly  get  cordwood  out  of  the  woods,  by  the 
spring  we  had  it  nearly  all  down  in  the  yard,  ready 
for  the  portable  saw-mill  which  I  intended  to  hire; 
but  finding  the  terms  so  high  and  time  required  so 
uncertain,  I  decided  it  would  be  cheaper  to  buy  one 
and  continue  sawing  on  my  own  account. 

My  share  of  preparing  for  the  new  barn  was  draw- 
ing the  complete  plan  of  it  and  arranging  dimensions 
of  timber  required  with  the  master  carpenter  who  had 
undertaken  to  frame  it,  so  as  to  gi  /e  the  exact  size 
of  every  stick  required  to  the  sawyer  when  the  mill 
began  work  the  first  week  of  June.  That  this  was 
somewhat  of  an  undertaking  you  will  understarid, 
when  I  tell  you  the  barn  is  one  hundred  feet  by  sixty, 
and  everything  (except  piggery  and  sheep-house  added 
92 


VARIOUS  EVENTS  IN  i88g-go. 


93 


next  year)  is  under  one  roof— stabling  for  six  horses, 
including  excellent  loose  box,  stalls   and   boxes  for 
over   thirty  head  of  cattle,  coach-house,  into  which 
we  drive   in   bad  weathe^-,  and  harness-room  above, 
granary,  silo,  root-cellar,  and   large   space   for   farm 
implements;  besides,  of  course,  large  storage  for  hay 
aiid  straw  on  the  second  storey.     The  improved  plan 
in  Nova  Scotia  is  to  drive  into  the  barn  floor  at  one 
end  and  out  at  the  other,  after  unloading  the  hay  and 
grain  by  a  patent  fork   worked   by  a   horse,  which 
saves  time  enormously;  but  it  is  some  work  to  build 
these  driveways  of  stone.     I  planned  the  barn  to  use 
as  much  stone  as  possible,  as  we  had  more  than  v/e 
wanted  on  the  place  in  the  shape  of  old  stone  fences, 
neglected   heaps,  etc.,  which    have  now  all  (or  very 
nearly  so)  been  put  out  of  sight  in  good  stone  drains, 
cement  floors,  and  roads  to   barn  and  mill.     There 
was  also  a  great  deal  of  good  building  stone  used 
for  the  barn  basement,  nine  feet   high   and   sixteen 
inches   thick,  which   I   preferred   to   the  cellar  plan 
usual  in   Nova  Scotia,  as  I  do  not  see  the  good  of 
keeping  the  manure  underneath  the  stables,  and  thus 
converting   a   good   barn    into  an   unsavory  manure 
shed.     I  am  glad  to  see   my  ideas  on  this  subject 
lately    advocated   by   some   of   the   leading   farming 
journals  in  Canada.    The  stables,  cow-house,  and  pig- 
gery are  kept  perfectly  dry  by  the  water  from  the 
stalls  being  run  into  a  tank  outside  and  pumped  into 


94 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


14 


the  water-cart  at  the  proper  season  for  the  crops. 
The  only  defect  in  our  barn  site  is  the  lack  of  a  suffi- 
cient water-supply.  That  I  have  remedied  by  three 
large  tanks,  one  at  each  end  of  the  barn  proper,  and 
one  in  the  boiler-house  of  the  piggery.  They  are 
eight  feet  by  ten,  to  ten  feet  \Sy  twelve,  and  eight  feet 
deep,  built  solidly  and  cemented  so  as  to  be  thoroughly 
watertight,  and  into  these  all  the  water  from  the  im- 
mense roofs  is  led.  It  is  perfectly  clean  soft  water, 
having  no  smoke  within  reach,  and  has  been  amply 
siifficient  for  our  large  stock  of  animals,  with  the 
advantage  of  never  freezing. 

The  stables,  cow-houses  and  piggery,  as  well  as 
sheep-houses,  are  thoroughly  lighted,  and  ventilated 
by  small  boxes  on  the  roof,  just  above  the  stalls,  and 
on  the  apex  of  each  building  are  two  large  cupolas  for 
the  same  purpose.  In  the  glass  turret  in  the  middle  of 
the  barn  roof  I  intend  some  tirneXo  make  a  little  room, 
when  we  are  rich  enough  in  timber  to  make  a  stair- 
case up  to  it !  The  view  would  be  really  splendid. 
The  basement  is  of  solid  masonry,  and  the  fine  granite 
blocks  split  and  hauled  off  our  fields  make  grand 
corner-stones.  The  farm  generally  being  much  bene- 
fited by  the  removal  of  all  available  stones ;  and  their 
being  thus  put  to  good  use.  The  wood  required  for 
barn  alone  was  115,000  feet  of  lumber,  and  this  our 
men  and  boys,  with  very  little  help,  cut,  hauled,  and 
sawed,  since  January,  in  time  to  have  the  barn  finished 


Various  events  in  i88g-go. 


95 


by  October,  1889.  Of  course,  to  collect  so  much 
stone  and  timber  I  had  to  get  extra  working  oxen,  and 
employ  a  few  labourers  for  the  summer,  besides  the 
carpenters  required.  When  the  frame  was  to  be 
raised,  we  invited  twenty-five  neighbours  to  come  and 
give  us  a  day's  work.  Twenty-five  more  came  and 
offered  their  services  ;  this,  with  ten  men  of  our  own, 
made  sixty  for  dinner  in  the  schoolroom  that  wonder- 
ful day,  and  I  was  truly  thankful  when  it  was  all  raised 
(like  a  great  skeleton  on  some  old-world  animal, 
against  the  sky)  without  any  accident !  Still  more 
thankful  when  all  those  who  had  worked  at  the  build- 
ing met  at  a  cheerful  supper  in  the  same  place  on  the 
occasion  of  its  completion. 

Our  next  year's  (1890)  experiences  of  building  the 
piggery  and  sheep-house  were  so  similar,  on  a  smaller 
scale,  that  I  will  not  trouble  you  with  them,  except  to 
remark  that,  as  an  illustration  of  how  "  every  little 
helps,"  it  was  wonderful  to  see  how  much  even  very 
Hale  ones  of  six  or  seven  years  old  helped  the  building 
by  picking  up  little  stones  for  the  stone  drains  and 
cement  floors.  I  was  often  amused  to  see  half  of 
them  running  after  the  ox-cart  which  was  to  collect 
the  stones,  and  the  other  half  carrying  them  inside 
the  building  to  the  masons. 

There  was  another  successful  effort  of  a  different 
kind  carried  through  in  1889,  which  is,  I  believe, 
likely  to  be  of  use  to  many  besides  our  children — 


!l 


96 


OUR    CHILDREN. 


I  mean  the  passing,  in  the  House  of  Assembly,  New 
Brunswick,  "  An  Act  in  Addition  to  and  Amendment 
of  Chapter  70  of  the  Consolidated  Statutes  of  Minors 
and  Apprentices,"  which  was  introduced  by  the  Hon. 
D.  L.  Hannington,  and  received  the  cordial  support  of 
Sir  John  Allen,  Chief  Justice  of  New  Brunswick,  and 
Hon.  A.  G.  Blair,  Attorney-General,  New  Brunswick. 

The  object  of  the  Act  is  to  provide  more  efficiently 
for  the  protection  of  emigrant  and  other  poor  children 
in  New  Brunswick,  as  has  been  for  some  years  the 
statute  in  Nova  Scotia.  The  need  of  such  an  Act  was 
felt  in  the  one  case  of  difficulty  about  our  children 
in  New  Brunswick,  on  which  occasion  I  received  the 
utmost  help  and  sympathy  from  the  authorities. 

The  following  letter  from  the  Hon.  D.  L.  Hannington 
will  show  the  estimation  in  which  my  work  for  our 
children  is  held  in  New  Brunswick  : — 


Dorchester,  N.  B., 
January  26,  1892. 

My  dear  Miss  Stirling, — I  am  very  sorry  to  learn  that 
your  health  has  not  been  so  good  as  usual,  and  that  you  intend 
removing  for  a  time  from  our  sister  province,  but  trust  that  any 
temporary  change  in  your  arrangements  will  not  hinder  that 
most  laudable  and  charitable  work  you  have  been  engaged  in 
among  us. 

The  children  whom  you  have  settled  in  these  provinces,  and 
who  have  been  under  your  kind  consideration  and  supervision, 
will  no  doubt  generally  be  successful,  and  prove  a  blessing,  we 


VARIOUS  EVENTS  IN  iSSg-go- 


97 


trust,  to  themselves,  as  also  to  the  communities  in  which  they 
live.  They  promise  to  be  ^opd  citizens,  and  their  comfort  and 
success  are  undoubtedly  due  to  jour  untiring  care  and  gen- 
erous liberality. 

It  affords  me  great  satisfaction  to  know  that  at  your  sugges- 
tion I  had  the  honour  to  introduce  into  the  Legislature  of  this 
province  the  Bill  (now  law)  passed  in  1889,  which  provides 
suitable  guarantees  for  the  proper  care,  control,  and  protection 
of  those  children  whom  yourself  and  others  are  bringing  from 
"  home"  to  become  residents  among  us.  The  good  conduct 
of  those  in  our  province  taking  these  little  strangers  into  their 
homes  has,  I  am  glad  to  know,  been  such  that  the  provisions 
of  the  Act  have  not  yet  had  to  be  enforced  against  them.  We 
trust  it  may  continue. 

In  the  one  case  of  difficulty  in  1888,  when  you  took  the  chil- 
dren back,  your  conduct  elicited  from  the  Chief  Justice,  Sir 
John  Allen,  the  expression  of  his  high  esteem  and  appreciation 
of  yourself  in  your  good  work  ;  and  when  the  Bill  came  before 
the  Legislature,  the  statement  of  the  work,  and  charity  of  your- 
self especially  (and  other  of  your  co-workers),  in  the  interest 
of  the  unfortunate  and  suffering,  won  the  unanimous  support 
of  our  Legislature  to  your  desired  legislation.  I  sent  you  a 
copy  of  the  Act  \\hen  passed.  Hoping  t.iat  your  health  may 
soon  be  quite  restored,  wishing  you  rest  and  happiness  during 
your  stay  at  home,  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  great  respect, 
Yours  very  sincerely, 

D.  L.  Hannington,  M.P.P. 


I  wish  I  could  speak  only  of  joy  and  success  in 
1889-90,  but  in  many  respects  these  were  years  of 
peculiar  trial.     In  April,  1889,  there  came  the  greatest 

7 


y8 


OUR    CHILDREN. 


sorrow  we  have  had  at  the  Hillfoot  Farm,  in  the  sud- 
den illness  and  death  of  my  dear  boy  R.  H ,  aged 

fourteen  (he  came  to  me  at  eight  years  old),  who,  from 
getting  wet  and  heedlessly  neglecting  to  change  his 
damp  clothes,  caught  rheumatic  fever,  and,  after  an 
acute  illness  of  three  weeks,  passed  away  early  in 
May.  When  he  was  first  taken  ill  I  went  over  to 
nurse  him  at  the  Boys'  House,  and  watched  him  two 
nights  there ;  but  finding  this  too  fatiguing,  and  the 
arrangements  of  necessity  less  suitable  for  sickness,  I 
had  him  carried  over  in  his  bed  by  four  men,  who 
were  most  tender  and  careful  in  the  transit,  from  which 
he  did  not  seem  to  suffer.  I  put  him  in  one  of  the 
visitor's  rooms  to  ensure  quiet,  and  nursed  him  night 
and  day,  with  the  help  of  our  best  nurses,  but  at  the 
end  of  a  fortnight  the  doctor  told  nie  there  was  immi- 
nent danger.  I  could  hardly  realize  that  he  would 
die.  Among  the  many  hundreds  who  had  passed 
through  the  Homes,  and  whom  I  had  nursed  in  all 
kinds  of  illness,  I  had  never  lost  a  child  above  two 
years  old,  and  I  could  not  expect  it.     But  I  thought, 

if  the  doctor  was  right,  it  was  cruel  not  to  tell  R 

how  near  he  might  be  to  his  journey's  end.  I  hardly 
knew  how  to  begin,  but  in  the  evening,  when  as  usual 
I  helped  him  to  pray  at  bedtime  like  the  little  ones,  I 
mustered  courage  to  say : — 

"  My  dear,  the  doctor  thinks  you  are  very  ill ;  he 
thinks  you  may  not  get  better.     /  think  you  will,  dear  ; 


VARTOUS  EVENTS  IN  iSSg-qo. 


99 


but  IF  NOT,  if  the  doctor  is  right,  and  that  the  message 
has  come  for  you  to  go,  are  you  ready,  my  darling  ?" 

"  Yisl'  said    R very   low.      I   said,  "  You    love 

Jesus,  don't  you,  R ?     You  would  not  be  afraid 

to  go  to  Him  ?"     I  had  risen  from  my  knees  and  bent 
over  him.     I  am  afraid  I  was  crying. 

The  boy  looked  up  in  my  face  with  such  a  bright 
sweet  smile,  and  said  in  a  steady  and  wonderfully 
strong  voice,  "  Yes,  I  love  Jesus;  I  have  known  Him 
a  long,  long  time,  and  Pm  not  a  bit  afraid  to  go  home 
to  Him  noiv."  Then  he  drew  my  head  down  to  him 
and  kissed  me,  saying,  "  Don't  mind,  ma'am." 

He  liked  very  much  to  have  us  sing  to  him  in  a 
low  tone;  the  hymn  he  liked  best  was  that  one  of 
Sankey's,  "  O  land  of  rest,  for  thee  I  sigh,"  and  often 
asked  for  it.  And  in  about  a  week  R was  gath- 
ered home.  The  grief  of  the  whole  colony  was  most 
touching,  especially  the  boys.  His  companions  wept 
bitterly  as  we  laid  him  to  rest  in  the  peaceful  burying- 
ground  at  the  Methodist  Church,  where  the  trees  have 
been  cleared  away  to  give  room  for  the  white  church 
and  its  peaceful  God's  acre. 

We  had  a  short  but  impressive  funeral  service  in 
the  schoolroom,  and  all  the  women  and  girls,  as 
well  as  men  and  boys,  went  to  the  grave.  Truly 
the  feeling  manifested  on  this  occasion  proves  how 
true  it  is  that  "  the  Lord  setteth  the  solitary  in 
families." 


TOO 


OUR    CHILDREN. 


There  were  other  trials  in  these  years,  of  which  I 
will  speak  in  another  chapter.     But  in   1890  a  great 

help  was  given  to  me  by  my  cousin  J.  H coming 

to  stay  with  me,  and,  finding  the  life  suit  him,  stayed 
all  winter,  and  in  spring  purchased  the  adjoining  farm, 
so  that  we  have  now  650  acres  to  look  after,  which  is 
a  great  field  for  our  boys. 


0  land  of  rest,  for  thee  I  sigh, 
When  will  the  moment  come. 

When  I  shall  lay  my  armour  by 
And  dwell  in  peace  at  home  ? 

Chorus — We'll  work,  we'll  work  till  Jesus  comes, 
And  we'll  be  gathered  home  ! 

To  Jesus  Christ  I  fled  for  rest. 

He  bade  me  cease  to  roam. 
And  lean  for  succour  on  His  breast, 

Till  He  conduct  me  home. 

1  sought  at  once  my  Saviour's  side, 

No  more  my  steps  shall  roam, 
With  Him  I'll  brave  death's  chilling  tide. 
And  reach  my  heavenly  home. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 


OUR    MILL   AND   WORKSHOPS. 

In  my  last  chapter,  in  giving  an  account  of  prepara- 
tions to  build  the  barn,  I  mentioned  I  had  found  it 
better  to  buy  instead  of  hiring  a  saw-mill,  and  to  con- 
tinue sawing  en  my  own  account.      This   proved  a 
most  successful  venture.      After  .sawing  the   lumber 
(Anglice   timbers  and    boards)  for  the  buildings,  we 
had  plenty  of  work  to  do  for  our  neighbours  at  a  fairly 
remunerative  price,  and  as  I  added  a  grist-mill,  which 
could  be  worked  by  the  engine  by  simply  adjusting  a 
different  belt,  we  were  never  a  day  idle,  as  the  har- 
vest begins  almost  directly  after  the  season  for  .sawing 
lumber  is  over.     Grist  is  brought  in  the  whole  winter, 
so  that  the  toll,  or  portion  left  as  payment,  goes  a  long 
way  towards  feeding  our  cattle.     It  makes  the  Hill- 
foot  Farm  a  busy  place,  for  there  is  always  .some  order 
on  hand  at  the  mill,  and  in  winter  it  is  a  curious  sight 
to  see,  as  soon  as  snow  comes,  the  great  logs  being 
"  hauled"  along   the  road   to  the    mill   on  ox-sleds. 
Sometimes  horses  are  used,  and  the  men,  generally 

xoi 


109 


OUR    CHILDREN. 


ti, ,' 


|i 


with  long  beards,  in  their  (to  Scotch  eyes)  strange 
winter  costume — fur  caps  which  cover  their  ears,  long 
coats  with  leather  band  round  the  waist,  high  boots 
or  larrigans,  which  are  moccasins  of  undressed  leather, 
big  enough  to  hold  several  pairs  of  stockings,  and 
mittens.  Altogether,  they  look  more  like  pictures 
one  has  seen  of  Cossacks  than  anything  else.  For  the 
last  few  years  we  have  had  comparatively  little  snow, 
and  when  it  comes,  every  man  and  boy,  horse  and 
ox,  's  busy  getting  cord  wood  (fuel)  out  of  the  woods 
and  swamps,  and  hauling  logs  to  the  mills,  so  that 
the  roads  are  alive  with  sleds  of  every  description, 
taking  advantage  of  the  smooth  snow  making  transit 
easy.  At  the  old  mill  we  saw  most  of  them  pass  near 
the  house.  I  say  the  old  mill,  for,  alas!  last  year 
our  beautiful  mill  and  convenient  building  over  it,  in- 
cluding the  joiner's  shop,  was  burnt  'o  the  ground,  in 
the  middle  of  a  summer's  night,  in  a  most  mysterious 
way.  We  could  not  account  for  it,  and  there  seemed 
reason  to  fear  some  unfair  play,  but  we  do  not  know, 
and  so  cannot  say  anything  about  it ;  but  the  loss  has 
been  very  great,  about  $3000  (.^600  sterling).  I  felt 
that  it  would  be  better  to  re-build  it  in  another  situa- 
tion, as  the  wonder  was  how  the  other  buildings  had 
escaped  the  slightest  damage.  But  this  time  it  is 
placed  beyond  all  risk  to  them,  and  now  the  mill  is 
thoroughly  insured.  I  was  advised  to  replace  it,  as 
it  is  a  very  profitable  adjunct,  and  we  had  established 


OVh'  Ml  1,1.  AM)  woKKsnors. 


»0.^ 


quite  a  small  lumber  trade.  Will  any  friends  help  me 
to  pay  for  what  is  an  excellent  method  of  training'  and 
providing  employment  for  a  number  of  boys,  as  this 
and  the  carpenter's  shop  always  must  be?  Besides 
sawinjT  lumber  and  grindin<,r  grist,  we  have  a  shingle- 
mill,  the  proceeds  of  which  are  in  constant  demand, 
and  pay  well.  Shingles  arc  a  sort  of  wooden  slate 
used  to  cover  roofs  and  walls.  The  engine  also  cuts 
all  the  firewootl  used  in  the  houses,  wlvich  is  all  ex- 
cellent training  for  the  boys.  Everything  connected 
with  the  management  of  wood  is  valuable  to  them  in 
Nova  Scotia. 

This  summer  (1892)  we  must  build  a  house  for  the 
sawyer  close  to  the  mill.  Ofcour.se,  having  the  wood 
and  machinery  of  our  own  enables  us  to  do  this  at 
less  cost,  but  I  do  hope  friends  who  have  any  money 
to  spare  will  help  those  who  help  themselves  as  really 
we  and  our  children  do.  / 

The  joiner's  shop  is  never  idle.  In  it  we  make  all 
sorts  of  things,  from  ox-yokes  and  Dutch  racks  (a 
kind  of  rough  farm  waggon)  to  strawberry-boxes, 
which  the  very  little  boys  make  on  winter  afternoons, 
and  which  sell  well  in  the  berry  season.  Besides 
these  articles  we  make  nice  furniture  for  the  houses 
as  required — tables,  benches,  cupboards,  varnished 
and  otherwise,  washing-stands,  clothes  screens,  etc., 
etc.,  and  do  all  the  jobbing  carpenter  work  required 
in  most  country  houses.     This  is  an  item  to  consider, 


^n 


■■ri 


104 


OUK    CHILDREN. 


as  we  are  now  quite  a  small  village.  Friends  who 
wish  to  save  and  train  destitute  boys  and  lads  of  good 
character,  from  ten  to  fifteen  or  sixteen  years,  could 
not  I  believe,  have  a  better  opening  and  school  for 
them  than  our  farm  and  workshops.  This,  I  think,  is 
borne  out  by  iheir  success  when  they  leave  us. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


OUR  CHILDREN  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD. 

In  the  last  number  ol  "  Our  Children"  I  gave  an 
account  of  their  life  at  hme  at  Hillfoot  Farm,  so  that 
it  may  be  somewhat  tedious  to  repeat;  but  still,  for 
the  sake  of  new  friends,  it  may  be  well  to  give  a  few 
details,  and  I  shall  then  leave  other  friends,  who  have 
frequently  visited  us,  to  i^ive  their  own  account  of  the 
Home  and  our  doings  there. 

In  summ.er  we  have  to  make  the  most  of  our  time. 
The  workers  in  the  house  and  out  of  it  rise  at  3  a.m., 
as  the  men  and  boys  must  have  their  breakfast  at  6.30. 
after  doing  the  morning  chores.  The  breakfast  for 
the  various  classes  in  the  big  house  goes  on  till  8.30. 
Prayers  in  the  schoolroom  at  9,  when  the  children 
settle  to  lessons  and  the  women  and  girls  go  to  the 
forenoon's  work.  I  am  then  ready  to  meet  them,  and 
make  a  rcund  of  visits  to  kitchen,  laundry,  school- 
room, nursery,  and  bedrooms,  not  forgetting  the 
poultry-house.  I  forgot  to  say  our  latest  improvement 
was  to  make  a  beautiful  one  out  of  the  old  stable  and 
coach-house,  which  provides  ample  accommodation 
for  our  turkeys,  geese,  ducks,  and  hens. 

105 


io6 


ouK  c/frr.nh'EX. 


n  •n. 


Wc  then  all  go  on  with  our  work,  ami  I  write 
letters  till  12.  Then  usually  when  school  is  over,  and 
the  men  and  hoys  are  coming  in  to  dinner — at  12  till 
I — somebody  or  other  wants  me  most  of  the  time  till 
I.  The  children  dine  at  12.30,  the  rest  of  the  family 
at  I  o'clock. 

At  2  we  all  settle  to  the  afternoon's  work.  The 
children  usually  go  to  play  in  the  "  ////A'  7voods,''  a 
pretty,  shady  nook  across  the  ravine  behind  the  barn, 
with  somebody  looking  after  them,  or  pick  berries  to 
make  jam  for  them  later  on. 

There  are  immense  quantities  of  wild  strawberries, 
raspberries,  and  blackberries  on  the  farms,  and  down 
on  the  Caribou  iiog,  as  it  is  called,  about  four  miles 
off,  any  amount  of  blueberries.  Every  year  we  have 
one  or  two  picnics  to  go  and  gather  these.  Of  course 
only  those  big  enough  to  pick  well  and  steadily  go,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  risk  of  infants  being  lost  on  the 
wide-spreading  bog,  which  extends  for  miles.  I  need 
not  say  these  ploys  are  a  great  delight. 

Few  people  of  afiy  age  will  be  found  doing  nothing 
round  the  doors,  as  I  have  great  faith  in  Dr.  Watts' 
statement  as  to  the  ingenuity  of  somebody  with  a  bad 
name  providing  employment  for  idle  hands,  and  I 
never  find  it  fliil  when  the  hands  and  heads  are  so  left 
empty.  P/ay  is  most  desirable.  Idleness  is  destruc- 
tion. All  boys  of  eight  or  nine  get  something  to  do 
with  the  men,  in  farm  work  or  the   workshop,  even 


OUR   C/fl/.Ph'EN  AT  Hint  I:   AND  ABROAD. 


107 


brinj^ing  in  kindlings  and  fir.'vvood.  The  women  and 
girls  have  enough  to  do  to  cook,  bake,  clean  house, 
wash,  iron,  and  sew  for  such  a  party.  Yet  we  have 
plenty  of  music  and  recreation  too.  Tea  at  6,  prayers 
at  8.30,  supper  at  9 ;  and  I  expect  everybody  to  go  to 
bed  at  10,  except  on  Saturday  nights,  when  a  general 
and  extensive  tubbing  takes  place. 

In  winter  the  hours  are  the  same,  except  that  no 
one  rises  till  6  o'clock,  and  of  course  the  children 
must  be  occupied  and  amused  indoors  instead  of  out. 
They  make  strawberry-boxes  in  the  afternoon,  when 
the  material  is  to  be  had,  which  is  not  until  February 
o;  March,  our  most  inclement  weather.  And  they 
(when  there  were  more  boys  of  ten  and  twelve  years 
than  could  be  employed  in  the  barn)  used  to  make 
toy  furniture,  boxes,  etc.  When  our  party  increases, 
this  will  be  revived.  At  other  times,  in  bad  weather, 
they  have  what  we  call  a  "  play  school^  wlien  the 
boys  as  well  as  the  girls  knit,  draw,  etc.,  and  are 
allowed  to  talk  quietly  at  the  same  time.  There  is 
also  a  collection  of  toys,  which  are  given  out  on  these 
occasions,  and  returned  to  the  teacher  when  play 
school  is  over,  about  4.30.  Some  of  the  bigger  ones 
have  learned  to  make  common  scrapbooks  for  the 
little  ones,  by  cutting  out  pictures,  advertisements 
chiefly  1  and  pasting  them  on  strong  brown  paper, 
stitched  together.  I  save  every  mite  of  a  picture  or 
coloured  paper  for  this  purpose. 


io8 


OUR   CNI/.DRKK 


E- 


Wi 


In  fine  winter  weather,  when  there  is  hard  frost  and 
snow,  their  '*  sleds''  are  a  great  joy  and  delight,  as  our 
slopes  are  capital  for  '*  coasting."  The  big  boys  are 
very  kind  to  them  in  making  these,  and  each  has  one. 
The  fun  seems  to  consist  in  the  child  throwing  him- 
self on  his  stomach  on  this  arrangement,  which  forth- 
with, and  without  the  slightest  warning  (it  seems 
to  me),  shoots  like  lightning  down  the  nearest  hill, 
the  performer  uttering  shrieks  of  rapture,  and  dancing 
like  a  wild  Indian  when  he  reaches  the  bottom.  I 
cannot  help  feeling  nervous,  and  don't  like  to  look  at 
them  while  this  is  in  progress ;  but  they  never  seem 
to  get  hurt;  and  with  a  lot  of  boys,  really,  if  they  are 
happy  and  not  in  mischief,  I  can  but  be  happy  too. 
And  it  evidently  agrees  with  them,  for  a  more  sturdy, 
active,  merry,  independent  set  of  little  fellows  you 
seldom  see.  And  although  they  have  all  good  appe- 
tites (bless  them  !),  and  will  wear  out  their  clothes,  and 
7vill  outgrow  their  boots  with  fearful  rapidity,  they  are 
very  good  children.  This  i-i  the  almost  invariable 
testimony  I  receive  from  those  who  have  taken  them, 
as  well  as  the  character  they  bear  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Home. 

I  have  finished  the  description  of  our  winter's  life 
when  I  have  again  alluded  to  our  Friday  evening 
merry-making  in  the  schoolroom,  which  is  begun 
every  year  at  Hallow-e'en  ana  continued  till  March, 
when  all  in  the  houses  are  invited  at  6.30.     The  little 


OUK  CHILDREN  AT  HOME  AND  AliKOAD. 


109 


ones  stay  up  till  8.30  to  enjoy  it,  and  big  and  little 
dance  reels  and  country  dances,  play  games  and  sing 
songs  to  their  hearts'  content.  There  is  a  general 
preparation  in  the  way  of  "tidying"  for  the  occasion; 
and  at  the  close  we  take  care  to  have  ready  some 
sweeties,  cakes,  or  "jelly-pieces,"  and  disperse  at  9 
o'clock,  very  happy.  I  make  a  point  of  keeping  up 
this  custom,  as  we  have  a  long  dull  winter,  and  I 
think  it  positively  very  bad  for  children  and  young 
people  to  be  kept  without  reasonable  amusement  and 
variety. 

At  Christmas  we  have  great  doings.  The  Christ- 
mas shopping  is  a  great  event,  and  conducted  with 
the  utmost  caution  and  secrecy — consists  of  gifts  for 
everybody  in  the  houses,  not  all  painfully  useful !  but 
toys,  goodies,  pretty  things,  and  a  great  many  useful 
things  too.  I  find  this  institution  will  have  to  be 
continued,  as  about  July  requests  and  suggestions  are 
made  by  the  smaller  members  as  to  what  they  think 
"Santa  Claus"  should  bring  them  "at  Christmas." 
/  7ised  to  fill  their  stockings,  but  having  stayed  up 
one  Christmas  morning  until  I  a.m.  for  this  purpose, 
and  having  carried  it  out  successfully  (as  I  thought), 
was  interrupted  at  the  close  by  a  perfect  chorus  of 
congratulation.  I  never  did  it  again !  My  sleep  is 
too  precious  to  be  wasted  on  sucJi  very  wideawake 
people ! 

To  return  to  Christmas  Eve.     In  the  course  of  the 


no 


OUR    CHILDREN. 


iSij 


I 


'Pi 


Hi  i 

ll  I  ill 


It  ™i 


day  the  boys  have  followed  up  a  thorough  house- 
cleaning,  which  has  been  going  on  for  nearly  a  week, 
by  bringing  eve*  greens,  and  the  house  is  decorated 
before  evening,  and  the  Christmas  tree  decorated  and 
filled  with  its  nice  things  in  the  schoolroom.  When 
all  is  ready,  about  7  p.m.,  everybody,  old  and  young,  in 
the  various  houses,  every  man,  woman,  and  child  on 
the  place,  assemble  in  the  drawing-room,  and  I  read 
the  Christmas  reading  which  we  have  read  together 
for  so  many  years — Isaiah  ix.  1-9  and  St.  Luke  ii. 
1-20 — sing  the  Christmas  hymn,  "  Once  in  royal 
David's  city,"  and  pray.  Then  we  all  go  down  to  the 
schoolroom,  and  admire  and  benefit  by  the  Christmas 
tree,  which  is  amusement  enough  till  9  o'clock,  when, 
very  happy  and  rather  sleepy,  most  of  the  assembly 
want  to  go  to  bed,  and  get  ready  for  to-morrow,  with 
its  "  Merry  Christmas,"  all  good  wishes  all  round, 
Christmas  cards,  and — Christmas  dinner  of  roast  beef 
and  plum-pudding.  Those  who  have  left  us  are  not 
forgotten,  as  I  send  every  one  of  them  a  Christmas 
card,  with  loving  greeting,  and  receive  a  pile  of  such 
in  reply  or  anticipation. 

This  completes  my  story  of  our  children's  life 
at  home.  My  friend  Mrs.  Gee  will  now  give 
her  account  of  it,  and  after  her,  Dr.  Lawson  and 
other  friends  will  give  their  opinion  of  our  chil- 
dren and  their  surroundings  at  home — at  Hillfoot 
Farm. 


OrK   CHI  I.  DR  EN  AT  /lOAf/:    .tX/)  A 11  ROAD. 


I  I  I 


Methodist  Parsonage,  Middleton, 

Annapolis  Co.,  Nova  Scotia, 

February  4,  1892. 

Passing  the  vvorld-famed  land  of  "  Evangeline,"  and  enter- 
ing the  Annapolis  Valley  by  the  Windsor  and  Annapolis  Rail- 
way, we  have  often  heard  travellers  inquiring  .ibout  the  pi(  t- 
uresque  group  of  buildings  nestling  at  the  foot  of  the  Nf)rth 
Mountain,  in  the  vicinity  of  Aylesford.  A  few  times  we  ha\  e 
felt  glad  to  have  the  chance  of  giving  full  information  ;  more 
frequently,  however,  we  have  been  obliged  to  sit  and  hear 
meagre  and  incorrect  details  given  about  the  history,  past  and 
present,  of  "  Miss  Stirling's  Homes,"  Hillfoot  Farm, 

As  the  honoured  founder  and  supporter  is  about  to  extend 
the  work  by  giving  a  hearty  invitation  to  destitute  children — 
amongst  fresh  people  in  fresh  places — perhaps  a  few  words 
from  a  disinterested  and  constant  visitor  may  be  received  with 
interest. 

At  this  point  in  the  history  of  the  work  a  summary  will  be 
given  by  the  founder  herself,  so  that  no  statistics  need  be  re- 
peated here.  It  is  rather  of  the  home  element  in  these  Homes 
of  which  we  would  now  speak. 

Since  the  commencement  of  the  work  in  this  country  from 
two  to  three  hundred  children  have  been  received  into  the 
homes  of  the  people,  the  great  majority  of  them  gi\  ing  satis- 
faction and  doing  well  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  term.  Again 
and  again  persons  having  these  children  have  spoken  to  us 
of  the  constant  proofs  given  by  them  of  their  love  for  Miss 
Stirling,  and  the  happy  recollections  of  their  home  with  her ; 
others  say  "marvellous,"  "wonderful."  Still  others  ask, 
"Whence  this  strong  bond  of  union?"  Perhaps  the  secret 
can  only  be  discovered  and  understood  by  those  who  are  often 


ip 


112 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


\\  ' 


in  their  midst.  It  is  not  found  in  the  literal  "giving  food  to 
the  hungry,"  or  "clothing  to  the  naked,"  though  we  would  to 
God  that  all  children  everywhere  could  have  this  litcralwork 
done  for  them.  Alas,  alas  !  even  this  week  we  read  of  ////;/- 
r/rfv/.y  going  to  school  in  the  city  of  London  "without  break- 
fast, and  no  prospect  of  dinner  or  tea  !" 

Soon  after  our  arrival  on  the  Aylesford  circuit  three  and 
a  half  years  ago,  we  were  shown  over  the  buildings  by  the 
founder.  The  most  striking  thing  to  us  was  not  the  noble 
arrangements  for  the  bodily  comfort  of  the  children,  but  her 
own  manner  of  dealing  with  the  children.  Now  a  fat,  rosy 
boy,  then  a  happy-looking  girl — scarce  able  to  speak  plainly — ■ 
would  appear  from  all  corners,  and  with  a  pull  at  her  dress 
exclaim,  "Tirling  !  Tirling  !"  but  the  look  in  the  baby  eyes — 
who  could  portray  it  ? — of  fullest  confidence  and  entreaty, 
for  what  the  human  heart,  old  or  young,  everywhere  craves, 
the  soft  touch  of  a  loving  hand  on  the  cheek,  the  hug,  the  kiss  ! 
— all  this  these  children  got  ere  they  were  sent  off  to  their  play. 

Millions  in  other  days  ha\  ■  given  thanks  to  God  for  that 
precious  narrative  which  tells  of  Christ  and  the  children. 
Millions  more  will  yet  give  thanks  for  it.  If  the  children 
brought  to  Him  then  had  needed  bread  or  clothing,  we  believe 
those  disciples  would  have  tried  to  supply  them  willingly.  But 
oh,  that  further  action  on  the  part  of  Christ  our  example — that 
folding  to  the  heart !  What  pen  can  tell  of  all  it  means  to  the 
human  soul  ?  How  the  world  yearns  for  more  of  it  to-day  ! 
This  is  the  element  permeating  the  Uves  of  these  children  of 
whom  we  write  ;  it  is  shown  in  everything  that  goes  to  make  up 
life  to  them,  in  the  way  they  are  taught  the  commandments  of 
(iod,  in  the  observance  of  all  Christian  festival  seasons,  down 
to  the  care  of  a  sore  toe  or  finger. 


OUR   CHILDREN  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD.        uj 


This  is  the  element  into  which  other  children  are  now  in- 
vited to  enter  and  partake.  Within  and  without  the  gospel 
"law  of  kindness"  reigns;  the  large  stock  of  animals  and 
fowls,  as  well  as  the  wild  birds,  come  in  for  their  full  share  of 
love.  If  the  venerable  "  Father  Chirpie"  and  noble  "Uncle 
Toby' '  of  Dicky  Bird  fame,  presiding  over  their  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  captains,  officers,  and  members,  could  spare 
time  to  visit  the  leafy  shade  of  Hillfoot  Farm  they  would  be 
very  much  delighted. 

Some  of  the  most  precious  memories  of  our  stay  on  the 
Aylesford  circuit  are  in  connection  with  our  intimacy  ?  their 
Homes — watching  the  effect  of  good  food  and  tender  care 
upon  the  delicate  boy  or  fragile  girl,  until  all  have  become 
alike  rosy  and  strong,  saying  "Good-night"  to  them  snugly 
tucked  up  in  their  warm  beds,  when  all  with  folded  hands 
and  closed  eyes  would  say,  "God  bless  all  the  little  children 
in  the  world."  Reading  God's  truth  with  them,  and  kneeling 
for  prayer  in  the  morning,  sharing  in  their  games,  etc.,  etc. 

Not  much  more  than  a  dozen  years  ago  we  supplied  daisies 
and  buttercups  to  children  in  cities,  who  had  never  seen  a 
daisy  growing,  never  been  in  green  fields,  knowing  nothing  of 
murmuring  brooks  or  of  singing  birds,  as  they  abound  around 
H.ilfoot  Farm,  Much,  much  has  been  done  since  then  in  the 
way  of  trips  to  the  country  for  a  day  or  more.  Still  there  is 
so  much  to  be  done,  and  we  can  never,  never  forget  these 
suffering  children  as  we  gaze  upon  the  luxurious  abundance  of 
flowers  and  fruit  in  these  favoured  provinces.  We  close  with 
a  prayer  that  God  may  direct  His  people  to  send  of  His  most 
needy  little  ones  to  where  "  there  is  bread  enough  and  to 
spare,"  until  the  doors  now  opened  unto  Christ  Himself  hy  one 
of  His  followers,  shall  all  be  filled. 

8 


114 


OUR   CHILDREN, 


Remaining  the  attached  and  devoted  friend  of  "  Op:  Chil- 
dren," 

Mrs.  (Rev.)  John  Gee. 


i 


J!     1 


liiillii: 


([.,  ,     ^  ,  I! 

liiii! 


Halifax,  Nova  Scotia, 

February  6,  1892. 

In  September  last  I  accompanied  my  friend,  the  Rev.  Dean 
Ellis,  Rector  of  Sackville,  on  a  visit  to  Miss  Stirling's  "  Home 
for  Children,  at  Aylesford,  in  this  province."  We  spent  part  of 
t\vo  days  there,  enjoying  the  hospitality  of  Miss  Stirling  and 
her  cousin.  We  visited  every  part  of  the  establishment,  the 
school  and  play  rooms,  work  and  mending  rooms,  washing  and 
drying  rooms,  dairy,  pantries,  kitchen,  dormitories,  and  the 
large  room  used  for  worship  and  social  meetings,  which  neigh- 
bours as  well  as  the  servants  and  children  attend.  The 
schoolroom  was  visited  while  the  teacher  was  engaged  in  her 
work,  and  Mr,  Ellis  spent  an  hour  in  drawing  out  from  the 
children  the  results  of  the  useful  instruction  in  reading  and 
arithmetic  which  they  were  receiving.  We  conversed  freely 
with  the  servants,  male  and  female,  while  they  were  engaged 
in  their  several  employments,  and  found  them  to  be  indus- 
trious and  intelligent,  all  working  together  under  Miss  Stir- 
ling's judicious  direction  in  perfect  harmony,  with  a  sincere 
desire  to  do  the  best  they  could  for  the  little  ones  committed 
to  their  care.  The  children  were  well  and  happy  ;  they 
spoke  affectionately  to  and  of  each  other,  and  showed  a  confi- 
dence in  Miss  Stirling's  love  for  them  that  any  mother  might 
envy. 

The  "  Home"  occupies  "  Hillfoot  Farm"  ;  the  buildings  are 
pleasantly  situated  on  level  ground  facing  the  main  road,  and 
are  sheltered  behind  by  a  hill  range  a  few  hundred  feet  high, 


OUR  CHILDREN  A  T  HOME  AND  ABROAD. 


"5 


the  farm  stretching  up  the  hill,  which  is  mostly  wooded,  and 
serves  for  pasturage.  The  level  fields  of  the  farm  showed 
successful  cultivation,  the  grain  and  root  crops  being  in  fine 
condition.  The  main  building,  the  "  Home"  proper,  is  a 
commodious  villa,  shaded  in  Iront  by  old  willows  that  were 
probably  planted  by  the  Acadians  while  Nova  Scotia  was  a 
French  colony,  and  there  is  an  old  apple  orchard  in  rear. 
There  are  separate  dwellings  at  some  little  distance  off  for 
the  farm  servants.  The  farm  barn  is  substantial,  commodious, 
and  complete,  one  of  the  best  in  this  country,  and  there  is  a 
separate  piggery,  commodious  and  well  planned.  Early  in 
the  morning  (before  breakfast)  I  found  several  of  the  boys  at 
work  in  the  barn,  feeding  the  cows  and  doing  other  ordinary 
light  work,  in  which  they  took  evident  interest  ;  some  I  met 
on  a  pathway  bringing  in  firewood  or  kindling,  and  others 
were  engaged  in  a  workshop  near  by.  They  were  too  young 
to  do  much  effective  "work,"  but  were  obtaining  their  early 
lessons  in  industry,  and  showed  cheerful  signs  of  emulation  in 
trying  to  be  useful. 

I  was  much  pleased  with  what  I  saw  on  the  occasion  of  our 
visit,  a  comfortable  and  happy  Christian  home,  where  young 
children  were  being  carefully  brought  up  to  habits  of  in- 
dustry, and  of  regularity  in  the  performance  of  daily  duties, 
and  educated  for  their  prospective  sphere  in  life,  so  as  to 
become  useful,  independent,  and  self-respecting  members  of 
society. 

George  Lawson, 

Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  University,   and  Secretary  for 
Agriculture  of  Nova  Scotia  Government. 


ii6 


OUR  cim.DKEr^. 


'■•  T'    111 

'  i-l  lid 


Haf.ifax,  Nova  Scotia, 

June  15,  1891. 

My  dkak  Miss  Stikmnc, — Will  you  allow  me  to  convey  to 
you  my  best  th;inks  for  the  j^rcat  pleasure  and  profit  I  derived 
from  my  recent  visit  to  your  farm  at  Aylcsford,  and  your  larjje 
and  very  comfortable  Home  for  children  there.  I  re^jret  very 
much  that  you  were  not  at  home,  but  I  nevertheless  embraced 
the  opportunity  to  carefully  go  over  your  delightfully  situated 
Home  and  well-cultivated  farm,  and  was  surprised  beyond 
expression  to  find  that  in  so  comparatively  short  a  time  you 
have  brought  your  farm  to  so  high  a  state  of  cultivation  by 
many  improved  methods  of  agriculture,  as  is  not,  I  believe, 
.attained  elsewhere  in  this  province. 

The  little  ones,  both  boys  and  girls,  all  looked  so  healthy, 
happy,  bright,  and  generally  well  kept,  that  I  could  not  help 
thinking  what  a  great  change  for  good  has  been  made  in  their 
lives.  There  is  every  prospect  that  each  will  grow  up  to  be  a 
useful  member  of  our  Canadian  society.  I  am  glad  that  your 
work  is  already  bearing  good  fruit,  as  those  placed  by  you  in 
homes  in  different  parts  of  the  country  show,  I  am  informed, 
the  results  of  their  training  under  your  good  care,  and  by  their 
conduct  testify  to  the  good  work  you  are  accomplishing. 

I  wish  for  you  many  years  of  continued  usefulness  in  your 
arduous,  but  nevertheless  grand  work,  and  trust  that  each  year 
you  will  have  greater  rewards  for  your  labours  in  the  direction 
you  have  chc^en  for  yourself. 

Again  that     ag  you  for  the  pleasure  and  privilege  I  enjoyed, 

I  remain,  yours  faithfully, 

Wallace  McDonald. 

Barclay  Webster,  Esq.,  M.P.P.  for  Kings  Co.,  N.  S., 
writes  : — 


OUR  cffrrnRFJv  at  home  and  ah  road. 


"7 


Kkntvili.k,  February  6,  1892. 
Dear  Miss  Stirling, — During  my  visits  to  Hillfoot  Farm 
I  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  how  the  children  there  under 
your  charge  were  looked  after  and  cared  for.  And  I  have 
much  pleasure  in  testifying  that  in  my  opinion  the  well-being 
of  the  children  was  carefully  regarded  and  seemed  the  first 
consideration  of  all  there.  The  schoolroom  was  under  the 
charge  of  an  efficient  teacher  and  the  children  appeared 
happy,  contented,  well  dressed,  and  cleanly. 

Yours  sincerely,  IJ.  B.  Webster,  M.P.P. 

George  Wb.ittnan,  Esq.,  M.P.P.  for  Annapolis,  Co., 
N.  S.,  writes  : — 

Round  Hill,  Annapolis,  N.  S., 

February  6,  1892. 

Dear  Madam, — On  visiting  Hillfoot  F'arm  in  Aylesford, 
King's  County,  found  the  buildings  and  grounds  admirably 
suited  for  a  school  of  agriculture  for  children.  The  variety  of 
soil  is  well  adapted  to  mixed  farming,  and  gives  employment 
to  young  as  well  as  old — to  the  young  in  the  care  of  small 
fruit,  poultry,  etc. 

The  farm  is  protected  from  the  cold  north  wind  by  the  range 
of  mountain  along  the  south  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and  from 
the  buildings  you  have  a  fine  view  of  the  valley. 

On  visiting  the  schoolroom  found  the  children  comfortably 
situated  and  being  taught  by  an  efficient  and  painstaking 
teacher,  and  looked  as  though  they  would  make  themselves 
useful  in  the  work  for  which  they  were  being  trained. 

Sincerely  yours,  Geo.  Whitman,  M.P.P. 

Miss  Emma  M.  Stirling, 

Hillfoot  Farm,  Aylesford,  King's  County. 


I! 
ft 


p      1 


n^i 


ii8 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


Rev.  A.  S.  Tuttle,  Berwick,  N.  S.,  supernumerary 
minister  Methodist  Church,  writes : — 

Having  resided  in  the  vicinity  of  Miss  Stirling's  Home  for 
Children,  at  Hillfoot  Farm,  Aylesford,  N.  S,,  since  it  was 
founded,  and  having  had  every  opportunity  of  observing  its 
managements,  I  am  fully  persuaded  there  is  no  institution  of 
the  kind  where  more  ample  provision  is  made  for  the  physical 
comfort  and  religious  training  of  the  young,  and  where  better 
facilities  are  aftorded  for  acquiring  all  the  elementary  branches 
of  education.  The  greatest  care  is  taken  to  secure  the  best 
homes  for  the  children,  and  in  this  Miss  Stirling  has  been  re- 
markably successful,  as  well  as  most  particular  and  indefatiga- 
ble in  seeing  that  the  conditions  made  in  their  interest  are 
carried  out  by  those  who  adopt  then-  or  receive  them  in  charge. 

There  is  much  addidonal  that  I  could  say,  but  it  is  probably 

not  required. 

(Signed) 

A.  S.  Tuttle. 


1 4i,i, 


Rev.  George  Steel,   104,  Broad   Street,  St.  John, 

N.  B.,  writes  : — 

St.  John,  N.  B., 

February  6,  1892. 
Dear  Miss  Stirling, — During  my  residence  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Prince  Edward  Island,  I  had  great  satisfaction  in  placing 
several  children,  who  had  been  under  your  training,  in  suitable 
homes.  After  their  adoption  into  those  homes  I  visited  them 
from  time  to  time,  and  made  careful  inquiry  about  their  char- 
acters. In  addition  to  this  I  visited  several  other  children,  who 
had  received  the  benefit  of  training  in  your  institutiftn.  From 
all  that  I  have  both  seen  and  heard  I  am  most  thoroughly 


OUR  CHILDREN  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD. 


119 


convinced  that  the  training  you  give  them  is  admirably  fitted 
to  make  good  Christian  men  and  women  of  those  who  are 
fortunate  enough  to  be  placed  under  your  care.  The  children 
compare  favourably  in  educational  ability  with  the  other  chil- 
dren of  the  province.  And  they  are  also  trained  in  habits  of 
neatness,  obedience,  and  reverence.  Happy  are  the  children 
that  come  under  such  influences.  Your  work  is  deserving  of 
all  confide'-ce  and  support.     May  it  continue  to  prosper  ! 

Yours  fraternally, 

George  Steel, 

Methodist  Minister. 

I  receive  from  all  quarters  good  accounts  of  our 
children.  No  doubt  they  are  not  all  alike,  and  none 
of  them  are  perfection,  but  they  are  a  very  well-con- 
ducted and  promising  set  of  young  people,  and,  I  must 
do  them  the  justice  to  say,  have  in  the  vast  majority 
of  cases  done  what  they  can  to  do  me  credit  and  repay 
the  care  and  pains  bestowed  upon  them.  A  great 
many  have  risen  to  positions  of  trust,  as  well  as  use- 
fulness, and  are  a  testimony  known  and  read  of  all 
men  to  the  good  results  of  the  work  for  our  children 
at  Home  and  Abroad. 


CHAPTER    XV. 


THE   LAST   TWO   YEARS. 


H\,m 


il  ■ "! 


pi  ''  ■:'•' 


In  Chapter  XII.  I  brought  the  history  of  our  work 
and  experiences  at  HiUfoot  Farm  down  to  the  close 
of  1890. 

Since  then  there  is  a  good  deal  of  interest  to  record, 
but  it  will  not  be  tedious. 

There  is  nothing  very  new  as  to  details  of  work 
done  for  our  children  at  home  and  abroad ;  but  the 
work  itself  has  gone  on  with  unabated  vigour.  Last 
June  we  were  joined  by  a  party  of  children  from  Miss 
Croall's  Home,  at  Stirling,  and  except  one  little  boy, 
whom  I  found  it  better  to  keep  at  home  for  a  time,  all 
these  are  now  in  good  homes  and  giving  satisfaction. 

Each  year  more  boys  and  girls  have  been  placed  in 
suitable  homes,  and  thus  enabled  to  do  for  themselves, 
while  leaving  room  for  new-comers,  and  I  rejoice  to 
be  able  still  to  say  that  the  reports  of  them  which  I 
receive  from  all  directions  are  most  encouraging.  A*- 
Home  all  goes  on  as  usual.  I  have  reason  to  be 
thankful  the  Home  element  remains  unbroken,  and 
the  Home  feeling  among  those  who  have  gone  from 
us  seems  as  strong  as  ever,  judging  from  the  piles  of 


120 


THE   LAST   TWO    YEARS. 


121 


letters,  photos,  Christmas  cards,  and  other  tokens  of 
goodwill  which  come  from  our  children  abroad. 

I  have  already  told  of  the  serious  calamity  in  the 
destruction  of  the  mill  last  year,  and  its  rebuilding.  It 
is  now  at  work  as  busily  as  ever,  and  employs  more 
hands. 

As  to  the  farm  work,  we  have  done  much  to  im- 
prove the  stock  of  cattle  and  sheep,  since  there  has 
been  suitable  accommodaiion  for  them  in  the  new 
buildings.  We  have  now  a  fine  herd  of  registered 
Ayrshire  cattle,  and  the  flock  of  sheep  has  been  also 
much  improved.  By  dint  of  constant  care  and  pains, 
we  hope  by-and-by  it  will  be  one  of  the  best  in  the 
province.  I  must  not  forget  the  Berkshire  pigs,  whicn 
live  in  what  is  known  as  Piggy's  Palace  (which  ex- 
cited the  admiration  of  Dr.  Lawson),  and  where  each 
family  has  a  parlour  and  bedroom  !  one  pen  for  eating, 
the  other  for  sleeping,  with  access  to  "  Piggy's  play- 
ground," a  large  sunny  yard  where  the  manure  from 
the  barn  is  taken,  and  where  the  pigs  occupy  them- 
selves usefully  in  turning  it  over.  This  part  of  the 
farm  is  a  great  amusement  to  visitors ;  and  as  it  is 
light,  airy,  and  perfectly  clean,  there  is  nothing  objec- 
tionable, as  is  too  often  the  case  where  piggies  are 
less  well  attended  to. 

We  have,  since  1890,  planted  three  orchards — one 
of  300  trees  on  my  cousin's  new  farm,  in  a  very  fine 
situation ;  one  of  pears,  peaches,  plums,  and  cherry 


i 


122 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


'  '•iiiifii 

if  ' 
111 


trees,  immediately  in  front  of  the  big  house  (where 
the  old  barns  used  to  stand),  and  which,  as  the  ground 
slopes  gently  to  the  south,  and  is  sheltered  by  the 
house  to  the  north,  bids  fair  to  do  well.  The  third  is 
on  the  tableland  behind,  and  stretching  west  (»f  the 
big  house  mentioned  in  my  description  of  the  farm 
when  I  bought  it.  We  shall  only  be  able  to  fill  part 
of  this  ground  this  year,  as  the  space  is  large ;  but  it 
is  a  good  piece  of  work  to  have  on  hand,  as  preparing 
the  ground  can  be  carried  on  at  intervals  when  there 
is  not  much  else  to  do — though  that  is  but  seldom,  we 
find! 

In  order  to  explain  one  great  subject  of  interest  and 
increased  anxiety  during  these  years,  I  must  go  back 
in  our  history  to  1886,  and  tell  you  that  no  sooner 
were  we  located  here  than  my  troubles  began  in  an- 
other c;  ection.  A  man  of  notoriously  bad  character 
had  brought  his  three  children  to  my  care  in  1882, 
and  deserted  them  immediately  after.  When  he  ap- 
plied for  their  admission,  he  stated  he  had  been  a 
Roman  Catholic,  but  was  tired  of  the  neglect  and 
tyranny  of  the  priests,  and  desired  to  have  them 
brought  up  as  Protestants.  As  I  have  said,  he  de- 
serted them  immediately.  In  the  course  of  four  years 
he  only  once  asked  after  them,  and  during  the  same 
period  sent  £l  \ys.  towards  their  maintenance.  But 
in  1886,  finding  that  two  of  the  children  had  been  sent 
by  the  directors  to  Nova  Scotia  in  the  course  of  that 


THE   LAST   TWO    YEARS. 


123 


year,  he  consulted  a  priest,  who  recommended  him  to 
a  Roman  Catholic  agent,  by  whom  he  was  advised  to 
apply  for  them.  The  directors  then  requested  me  to 
bring  fhem  home,  which  I  did  at  once,  but,  knowing 
what  the  fate  of  the  children  would  be,  I  was  natu- 
rally unwilling  to  give  them  up  if  it  could  be  avoided  ; 
and  as  the  father  did  not  make  any  further  attempt  to 
obtain  them,  the  former  application  to  the  directors 
was  allowed  to  drop.  After  waiti'  g  five  months,  I 
sent  them  out  again,  and  with  them  the  third  child, 
who  had  not  been  in  the  Homes  since  1884,  but  had 
been  supported  at  my  privrte  expense  in  the  country, 
and  in  due  course  tbey  were  provided  for. 

After  eighteen  months  a  lawsuit  was  instituted, 
which  has  been  alike  troublesome  and  expensive. 

The  decision  in  my  favour  recently  given  by  the 
Court  in  Nova  Scotia  in  the  above  case  has  been  a 
great  relief  to  me.  The  inconvenience  and  outlay 
have  been  very  considerable ;  but  as  I  was  advised  to 
carry  it  on  in  the  interests  of  poor  children  as  well  as 
of  the  Protestant  cause,  the  risk  seemed  unavoidable.' 

I  cannot  leave  this  subject  without  thanking  my 

cousin  J.  H for  his  help  and  kindness  to  me  all 

through  this  trying  time. 


I 


•  Full  particulars  of  this  case  will  be  found  in  Part  III. 


1^ 


CHAPTER   XVI. 


m 


i'\ 


WHAT   WE    HOPE   TO    DO. 

This  is  an  important  chapter,  but  one  contained  in 
few  words. 

I  have  told  the  stoiy  so  far  of  my  life's  work  for 
destitute  children  in  the  hope  that  many  friends  will 
be  inclined  to  help  me  to  carry  it  on,  and  so  perma- 
nently help  to  save  many  more. 

I  have  established  the  Home  in  Nova  Scotia  in  the 
hope  that  it  will  be  a  rea/  home  to  numbers  of  poor 
children  who  have  no  other,  and  that  it  will  be  a  safe 
starting-point  for  many  boys  and  girls  in  a  new  coun- 
try, where  they  have  the  opportunity  offered  to  them 
of  rising  in  the  world,  as  well  as  a  home  to  which 
they  can  come  at  any  time  for  counsel  or  refuge  in 
time  of  trouble — to  say  nothing  of  the  place  where 
their  success  will  always  be  most  heartily  rejoiced  in 
by  all  the  folks  at  home ! 

We  have  ali  laboured  to  make  the  farm  and  work- 
shops an  efficient  training  school  for  lads  of  good 
character,  from  whence  they  quickly  obtain  good 
situations,  and  therefore  hope  that  many  will  take 
advantage  of  it.  We  hope  that  the  same  habits  of 
124 


IVIIAT  IVE   HOPE    TO  DO. 


1 35 


industry,  faithfulness,  and  kindness  learned  in  the 
house  will  help  to  fit  many  girls  for  being  the  good 
household  helpers  who  are  so  ardently  desired  and 
warmly  welcomed  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  And 
I  earnestly  hope  that  this  work  will  increase  yet  more 
and  more,  and  that  our  children  and  their  descendants 
will  long  be  known  as  a  seed  whom  the  Lord  has 
blessed  in  the  maritime  provinces,  not  to  mention  the 
States,  where  some  of  our  young  men  and  women 
are  prospering  abundantly.  I  trust  that  long  after 
my  work  for  children  is  over,  they  will  be  known  as 
heads  of  godly,  righteous,  and  sober  families. 

I  hope  that  God's  people  will  consider  the  case  of 
many  poor  children  who  are  orphans,  or  worse,  by 
reason  of  the  cruelty  of  their  parents.  No  doubt  ail 
are  not  suitable  cases  for  emigration,  but  many  are. 
Competent  judges  say  the  need  is  as  great  as  ever  in 
our  large  cities,  yea,  even  all  over  the  country.  I,  for 
one,  dare  not  contradict  them. 

Much  has  been  done,  but  much  yet  remains,  and 
therefore  I  desire  to  open  the  doors  of  these  Homes 
at  Hillfoot  Farm,  N.  S.,  as  wide  as  possible  to  every 
destitute  child. 

For  this  I  cry  to  God  day  and  night,  for  this  I  have 
given  my  life,  and  I  know  that  in  this  work  the  Lord 
has  blessed  me ;  so  I  hope  by  His  help  still  to  save 
many,  body  and  soul,  to  bring  sunshine  and  hope  into 
many  a  poor  child's  life,  and  to  lead  the  active  steps 


Urn 
%  I 


126 


OC//;   CHILDREN, 


of  many  young  men  and  maidens  into  safe  and  pleas- 
ant paths.  Truly,  "  we  are  not  sufficient  of  ourselves 
to  think  anything  as  of  ourselves,  but  our  sufficiency 
is  of  God."  Truly  has  the  word  been  verified  in  our 
experience :  '*  The  lame  shall  take  the  prey."  So  we 
go  on  from  day  to  day,  hoping,  praying, "  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord,  knowing  that  our  labour  shall  not  be  in 
vain  in  the  Lord." 


If  % 


N.B. — This  sixteenth  chapter  treats  ovXy  o{what  we 
hoped  to  do.  For  the  apparent  result  I  must  refer  the 
reader  to  the  fourth  part  of  this  book,  the  sequel  to  the 
story  of  our  life  in  Nova  Scotia.  Yet  I  cannot  but 
believe  the  fruit  will  be  seen  in  that  land,  m^ny  days 
hence. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 


TEMPERANCE   WORK. 

t 

This  has  been  a  most  helpful  and  blessed  adjunct  to 
the  work  for  our  children.  We  have  been  enabled  at 
Hillfoot  Farm  to  maintain  a  united  and  steady  protest 
against  drink  in  all  its  forms. 

It  will  be  obvious  that  this  is  the  only  safety  where 
so  many  young  people  are  concerned.  In  it  we  have 
received  cordial  sympathy  and  support  from  the  public 
generally. 

The  Sunday  evening  service  has  very  often  been 
used  to  spreac'  the  cause  of  Temperance  by  the  exhor- 
tations and  warnings  given,  and  it  has  not  unfrequently 
been  actually  a  Temperance  meeting,  at  the  close  of 
which  considerable  numbers  of  people  have  signed 
the  pledge  against  drink,  tobacco,  and  swearing,  and 
the  good  results  of  this  are  known  to  all. 

Soon  after  I  went  to  Hillfoot  Farm  I  was  asked  to 
form  a  branch  in  Aylesford  of  the  Women's  Christian 
Temperance  Union.  I  did  not  at  first  see  my  way 
to  it  as  a  stranger,  but  when,  two  years  after,  the 
request  was  again  preferred,  I  could  not  refuse.  The 
members  asked  me  to  become  president,  to  which  I 

127 


iisl:?!  I 


■{}■  i 


m 


128 


06 A'    CIIir.DKEN, 


agreed,  on  condition  that  I  should  be  excused  if  hin- 
dered by  causes  over  which  I  had  no  control.  To 
this  they  agreed,  and  have  been  most  forbearing,  and 
we  have  quite  a  flourishing  though  small  Union.  I 
have  thus  been  privileged  to  take  part  in  Temper- 
ance work  in  other  places,  and  to  give  addresses, 
invited  by  the  W.  C.  T.  Unions  in  various  towns  in 
the  province.  Also  to  take  literature  of  2^  good  kind ^ 
Temperance  and  otherwise,  to  the  lumber  camps,  of 
which  there  are  several  every  winter,  near  Lake 
George,  and  twenty  miles  from  Hillfoot  Farm.  A 
large  number  of  men  are  employed  in  these  camps 
all  winter,  being  thus  cut  off  from  home  comfort  and 
amusement,  and  are  most  thankful  for  the  reading  sup- 
plied. One  winter  I  collected  tivo  hundred-weight  of 
books  and  papers,  which,  as  you  may  suppose,  supplied 
many.  I  never  enjoyed  anything  more  than  driving 
over  the  snow  across  the  valley,  up  the  South  Moun- 
tain, and  across  the  frozen  lake,  to  the  heart  of  the 
forest,  where  the  lumber  camps  were.  It  took  a  short 
winter's  day,  from  8  a.m.  to  6  p.m.,  but  we  received 
a  warm  welcome  and  a  good  dinner  in  the  camp, 
and  returned  feeling  we  had  carried  what  would  give 
pleasure  and  profit  to  many  through  the  long  winter 
nights.  Last  November  I  was  much  honoured  by 
being  sent,  at  the  request  of  Miss  Willard,  as  the  dele- 
gate from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  World's  Convention  of 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  held  in  Boston. 


PART  III. 


HISTORY  OF  MY  TROUBLES. 


129 


,lii' ' 


'tini 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 


INCIDENTS    IN   THE   WORK. 


I  WAS  brought  up  strictly  in  the  Protestant  faith, 
and  impressed  from  my  earliest  years  with  a  perfect 
horror,  not  only  of  the  Romish  Church,  but  of  that 
portion  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  now  known  as  Rit- 
iialistic^  then  commonly  called  High  Chunk  or 
Puseyite. 

We  attended  the  Scotch  Episcopal  Church,  where 
my  father  held  the  office  of  vestryman,  and  it  seemed 
to  me,  as  a  child,  that  his  whole  efforts  in  connection 
with  the  Church  were  concentrated  in  resisting  all  the 
various  forms  and  ceremonies — "  innovations^'  they 
were  called — which  have  since  brought  so  much 
misery,  and,  as  now  appears,  real  danger  in  the  way  of 
false  doctrine  into  the  Episcopal  Churches  both  of 
England  and  Scotland.  His  instruction  and  advice  to 
me  on  these  points,  and  as  to  the  sufficiency  of  THE 
BIBLE  ONLY,  as  a  rule  of  life,  were  most  solemn, 
and  made  a  deep  impression  on  my  mind.  This  was 
very  natural,  as  I  was  hardly  fourteen,  and  my  father, 
to  whom  I  was  devoted,  died  very  soon  after.  My 
mother  also  held  these  views  quite  as  strongly.     We, 

'31 


132 


OUR    CHILDREN. 


tlierefore,  were  never  allowed  to  make  any  Roman 
Catholic  acquaintance,  or  to  mix  much  with  those 
who  were  known  to  be  High  Church.  No  doubt  our 
parents  were  considered  very  narrow-minded.  I  have 
often  since  been  glad  it  was  so.  Therefore,  when  I 
was  led  to  begin  the  work  of  the  Day  Nursery  in 
Edinburgh  in  February,  1877,  I  was  ignorant  of  the 
devices  of  the  priests,  of  whom,  no  doubt,  I  had  a 
wholesome  horror  as  aforesaid,  but  my  love  and  com- 
passion for  poor  little  children  were  so  overpowering 
that  these  feelings  quite  overcame  any  fear  or  preju- 
dice I  might  otherwise  have  had  in  dealing  with 
Roman  Catholics  of  the  poorer  classes,  and  my  whole 
object  being  to  alleviate  the  misery  of  these  poor  little 
ones  for  the  sake  of  Him  who  so  loved  the  little  chil- 
dren, I  received  all  alike,  contenting  myself  with 
the  stipulation  that  no  popish  practices  or  idolatrous 
prayers  should  be  permitted  in  my  houses,  and  that 
no  priest  or  sister  should  on  any  pretence  whatever  be 
allowed  to  visit  the  Day  Nursery  or  Homes.  Soon 
after  I  began  this  work  I  found  that  a  somewhat  un- 
necessary case  had  been  admitted,  in  1878;  so  I 
judged,  from  the  frequency  with  which  the  mother 
visited  her  two  children,  and  as  in  addition,  in  a  few 
days,  it  transpired  that  she  was  tampering  with  some 
of  my  girls  as  to  prayers,  symbols,  etc.,  I  desired  he 
to  remove  the  children  at  once.  She  wept  and  pro- 
tested and  said,  "  Oh !  ma'am,  you  said  you  did  not 


INCIDENTS  IN   THE   WORK. 


133 


interfere  with  my  religion."  "  No,"  I  said,  "  I  don't 
interfere  with  j^///-  reUgion,  but  I  can't  \\2M^you  inter- 
fering with  oursT  and  added,  to  clear  myself  of  the 
charge  of  cruelty,  "  If  you  have  time  to  be  so  much 
in  my  home  with  your  children,  you  ought  to  have 
them  \^\\\\  you  in  your  own  home  !"  I  may  state  here, 
the  grandmother  of  these  children  thanked  me  cor- 
dially, and  told  me  the  reason  the  children  had  been 
sent  to  me  was  only  to  make  an  excuse  for  the  priest 
to  visit  at  the  Home,  and  that  though  she  herself  was 
a  Roman  Catholic,  she  thought  it  very  wrong  thus  to 
abuse  my  kindness,  but  begged  me  not  to  tell  anyone  / 
as  she  feared  the  priest ! 

I  mention  this  case  to  show  that  I  clearly  made  It 
understood  that  mine  was  a  Protestant  Home,  and  that 
any  child  placed  therein  would  be  brought  up  as  a 
Protestant.  In  the  Day  Nursery  I  made  no  distmction, 
except  forbidding  priests  or  sisters  to  visit.  People 
used  to  ask,  "  Do  you  make  any  difference  as  to  what 
religion  the  children  here  belong  to?"  I  answered 
"  NONE,  any  little  child,  whether  Jew,  Turk,  Heathen, 
or  Mohammedan,  will  be  vvelcome ;  it  is  not  the  re- 
ligion I  care  about,  it  is  the  child,  for  the  sake  of  Jesus 
who  so  loves  them." 

Dear  reader,  you  who  may  very  possibly  blame  me 
in  this  case,  which  has  given  so  much  trouble,  may 
very  Hkely  think  of  me  as  bigoted,  harsh,  and  narrow- 
minded,  are  you  quite  sure  that  you  have  love  for 


134 


OUR  CHILDREN. 


U  '    ,  II,  1 


I)' 


little  perishing  babies  ivider  than  that  ?  Was  it  not 
well-nigh  as  broad  as  humanity?  If  I  shut  the  door 
so  as  to  keep  the  priests  out,  while  I  let  the  children 
in,  it  was  only  because  I  instinctively  dreaded  the 
fascination  of  the  Old  Enemy  ROME!  As  years 
went  on,  there  used  to  be  occasional  small  attempts 
at  interference  by  sisters  and  Ritualistic  ladies,  but 
these  being  always  successfully  parried,  nothing  star- 
tling happened  till  1883 — when  my  eyes  were  opened 
a  little  wider  by  the  following  case: — In  1879,  ^  '^^^Y 
poor,  sick  man,  far  gone  in  consumption,  brought  his 
four  motherless  children  to  my  care,  saying  he  was  in 
utter  misery ;  no  one  looking  at  him  could  doubt  it ! 
He  had  been  a  Roman  Catholic,  but  said  that  he  had 
been  so  unkindly  treated  by  the  priests,  that  he  had 
determined  to  be  done  with  them,  and  wished  very 
much  to  have  his  four  youngest  children  brought  up 
as  Protestants.  To  this  I  agreed,  and  they  were 
admitted  to  the  Home,  and  remained  there,  free  of 
charge,  till  1883,  when  the  father  died.  During  his 
last  illness  they  had  been  sent  to  visit  him.  When 
he  died  I  had  them  clad  in  decent  mourning  and  sent 
to  the  funeral.  They  went  alone,  as  the  eldest  girl 
was  now  twelve  years  old,  and  they  were  to  meet 
their  elder  brothers  and  sisters,  who  had  more  or  less 
passed  through  my  hands,  and  eventually  became 
Protestants.  To  the  astonishment  of  my  housekeeper 
they  returned  from  the  funeral  in  a  cab !  saying  that 


INCIDENTS   IN   THE    WORK. 


135 


they  had  been  obliged  to  do  so  to  escape  from  the 
priests — of  whom  two  were  at  the  funeral,  and  I 
think,  two  sisters.  Before  the  father  was  buried,  the 
priests  turned  to  the  children,  and  told  them  they 
now  belonged  to  them,  and  musl  go  where  they 
chose — therefore  could  not  be  allowed  to  return  to 
the  Home.  On  hearing  this  the  children  cried,  and 
made  a  great  fuss.  A  Protestant  bystander  interfered, 
and  said  to  the  priests,  "  You  have  no  right  to  the 
clothes,  whatever  you  have  to  the  children !"  on  which 
the  priests  told  the  poor  children,  "  That  will  be  all 
right,  zve  will  strip  you  and  send  back  the  clothes !" 
Tf<  >  elder  brother  became  indignant,  and  obtaining 
the  money  for  a  cab,  put  them  into  it,  and  sent  them 
back  to  me.  A  few  days  after,  their  grandmother 
arrived,  and  asked  me  to  give  her  the  children.  I 
refused,  on  the  ground  of  my  promise  to  their  father 
— made  and  kept  in  his  lifetime — and  which  I  saw  no 
reason  to  break,  merely  because  he  had  died.  I  asked 
her  what  she  could  do  with  the  children  if  she  had 
them,  she  replied,  "  Nothing — 1  am  a  poor  creature, 
and  get  .  '  parish  relief,  but  the  priest  wants  them  to 
go  to  the  :!  ers  at  Lanark,"  and,  beginning  to  cry, 
said,  "  I  would  7iever  have  asked  for  them,  for  ye've 
been  good  and  kind  to  the  children,  but  I  dare  not 
say  nay  to  the  priest,  who  made  me  come  to  you." 
I  soothed  her,  and  sent  a  cfvil  message  to  the  priest 
that  "  I  could  not  think  of  such  a  thing,"  and  kept 


fm^sm 


In  ' 


'i'fli  ^ 


136  "  owe   CHILDREN. 

the  children.  After  this  I  had  no  more  trouble,  but 
was  very  careful  not  to  admit  Roman  Catholic  children 
to  the  Homes  permanently,  though  I  helped  them 
temporarily. 

This  was  in  1883,  but  in  the  preceding  year  I  re- 
ceived the  three  children  of  a  Roman  Catholic,  as 
stated  in  Chapter  XV.,  under  circumstances  best  ex- 
plained by  the  following  extracts  from  a  Bible-woman's 
journal: 

"  November  i,  1882. — Have  been  trying  to  get  three 

motherless  children  into  a  Home,  Mrs.  T kindly 

gave  me  ^s.  to  get  bread  for  them." 

'\famiary  15,  1883. — Felt  very  thankful  to-day  to 
hear  that  Miss  Stirling  had  taken  the  three  motherless 
children  (already  referred  to)  into  the  Home.  Their 
mother  died  last  summer,  and  the  neighbours  took  in 
the  children.  The  father  went  to  live  elsewhere,  and, 
being  out  of  work,  was  not  doing  much  in  keeping 
his  children.  One  poor  woman,  who  had  four  chil- 
dren of  her  own  and  her  husband  ail  in  one  little  attic- 
room,  took  two  of  these  children ;  her  husband  was 
out  of  work  too.  It  is  very  trying  to  visit  here  and 
see  the  children  crying  for  bread — any  little  thing  that 
I  could  give  was  like  a  drop  in  the  bucket.  The 
youngest  of  these  children  was  a  nice  little  girl  about 
three  years  of  age.  A  widow,  who  had  six  of  a  fam- 
ily, and  one  of  them  a  pdor  crippled  boy,  took  this 
little  girl  in.     Many  a  time  my  heart  has  been  pained 


INCIDENTS  IN  THE   WORK, 


137 


to  see  these  poor  half-clad  children  sitting  in  the  stair 
on  the  street  in  the  cold." 

At  the  time  of  admission  I  stipulated  that  the  father, 
whom  I  shall  call  X,  should  pay  2s.  6d.  a  week  for 
each  of  the  elder  children,  but  I  agreed  to  receive  the 
baby  free  of  charge,  on  condition  that  it  was  not  in- 
terfered with.  This  payment  the  man  eluded  by  de- 
serting them  soon  afterwards,  having  only  paid  £1 
lys.  towards  their  support,  and  he  did  not  re-appear 
till  December,  1884,  when  he  was  got  hold  of  by  one 
of  my  nurses,  who  sent  him  to  see  me  at  my  house. 
There  I  remonstrated  with  him  most  seriously  as 
to  the  neglect  and  desertion  of  his  children,  and  said 
everything  I  could  think  of  to  arouse  a  proper  feeling 
in  his  mind  on  the  subject,  but  without  any  effect ! 
although  at  the  time  he  begged  my  pardon,  and  prom- 
ised amendment.  He  again  vanished,  and  i.o  more 
was  heard  or  seen  of  him  for  two  years. 

At  this  time,  December,  1884,  the  second  child  had 
become  so  delicate  that  the  doctor  objected  to  her 
being  kept  in  the  Homes,  and  accordingly  she  was 
sent  to  the  Sick  Children's  Hospital,  from  whence  she 
was  discharged  as  improved  at  the  end  of  two  months, 
but  being  still  considered  unfit  for  the  Homes,  I 
boarded  her  at  my  private  expense  in  the  country, 
that  she  might  have  the  advantage  of  a  milder  climate 
and  milk  diet.  In  May,  1886, 1  sailed  for  Nova  Scotia 
with  25  children,  consisting  entirely  of  girls  and  little 


'38 


OUK   CHILDREN. 


ones,  among  thci  was  the  youngest  child  of  X,  aged 
6,  whose  name,  history,  and  circumstances  were,  Hke 
all  the  others,  submitted  to  the  Directors  of  my  Homes 
before  her  passage  was  taken.  In  September,  1886,  a 
party  of  boys  was  sent  out  by  the  Directors  to  me  in 
Nova  Scotia,  among  whom  was  her  brother.  At  that 
time  their  father  stated  that  a  Roman  Catholic  priest 
had  gone  to  him,  and  advised  him  to  apply  for  his 
children.  This  appeared  in  a  daily  paper  of  that  date. 
He  afterwards  stated  in  the  Court  of  Session  that  he 
had  gone  to  the  priest.     I  do  not  know  which  is  the 

truth,  but  they  together  went  to  Mr. ,  a  Roman 

Catholic  agent,  and  the  result  was  the  Directors  asked 
me  to  bring  back  these  two  children.  I  brought  them 
back  in  November,  1886,  but  when  I  got  them  home, 
and  heard  the  quarter  from  whence  the  demand  had 
come,  I  hesitated  to  give  up  the  children  if  I  could 
possibly  help  it,  knowing  what  their  fate  would  be  if 
given  back.  Altogether  I  demurred,  and  said  I  would 
not  give  them  up  if  it  could  possibly  be  helped.  I 
believe  it  was  th.ough  some  intervention  that  the 
priests  dropped  the  case  at  that  time.  X  himself 
never  came  near  me,  or  asked  for  his  children  so  far 
as  I  ever  heard.  This  went  on  for  five  months,  and 
during  that  time  the  children  were  boardej  in  the 
South  of  Scotland  at  my  expense — as  were  a  large 
number  of  other  children  from  the  Homes.  At  the 
end  of  March,  1887,  I  sent  them  back  to  Nova  Scotia, 


INCIDENTS  IN  THE   WORK. 


139 


believing,  as  did  everyone  else,  that  the  quest  was 
over,  and  that  the  whole  thing  had  been  dro'^oed  for 
ever. 

Early  in  1887,  February,  I  think,  a  baby  was  brought 
to  the  Shelter  in  Edinburgh  by  its  father,  whom  I  may 
name  Z,  in  a  horrible  state  of  neglect  and  ill-usage.  I 
personally  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  admission  of 
this  case,  except  to  consent  to  it,  as  the  routine  business 
of  having  papers  properly  signed,  etc.,  had  been  un 

dertaken  by  Mr. ,  one  of  the  Directors,  who  took 

special  charge  of  the  Shelter  from  cruelty,  to  which  all 
fresh  cases  were  brought.  I  was  told  that  the  father's 
only  object  was  to  prevent  the  mother  getting  hold  of 
it  again,  and  that  he  wished  it  to  be  emigrated.  Find- 
ing in  a  few  days  that  the  poor  child's  condition  re- 
quired more  careful  nursing  than  could  be  had  at  the 
Shelter,  I  took  it  to  my  own  home,  where  it  began  to 
recover.  The  man  called  and  asked  to  see  it,  saying  he 
had  brought  his  wife  to  bid  it  good-bye,  which  they 
did.  I  then  boarded  it  in  the  country,  and  in  April  it 
was  sent  to  Nova  Scotia.  On  my  return  the  same 
year,  in  October,  the  parents  appeared  and  demanded 
to  have  it  back  again,  which  demand,  of  course,  I  could 
not  accede  to.  It  then  transpired  they  were  Roman 
Catholics.  An  action  in  the  Court  of  Session  speedily 
followed  in  January,  1888.  The  Court  remitted  the 
case  to  Sheriff ,  to  make  report  as  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  parents  and  their  abode,  which  he  did,  the 


Mi! 


'a  ?t 


140 


0[//^   CHILDREN, 


report  being  of  such  a  cn.iracter  that  the  Court  could 
not  with  any  show  of  right  or  safety  for  the  child  give 
it  back  to  them,  but  ordered  that  it  should  be  sent 
back  to  Scotland.  As  it  was  still  in  the  Home,  I 
agreed,  and  the  child  was  given  to  the  Directors  of 
the  Homes  in  Scotland,  and  I  believe  it  is  still  in 
their  hands.  As  soon  as  the  above  trial  was  initiated, 
in  January,  1888,  the  man  X,  who  turned  out  to  be 
a  friend  of  the  man  Z,  again  appeared  on  the  scene. 
One  day  I  was  at  the  Shelter  in  the  High  Street  con- 
sidering the  cases  of  poor  children,  among  others  a 
girl  in  whom  the  police  were  interested,  and  one  of 
the  Inspectors  was  in  the  committee  room  talking  to 
me  when  X  arrived ;  hearing  that  someone  wished  to 
speak  to  me,  I  went  to  the  door  of  the  room,  and  saw 
a  man  standing  in  the  passage,  but  did  not  know  him  ; 
he  told  me  who  he  was,  became  very  rude,  and  dis- 
tinctly threatened  violence,  as  he  did  not  see  the 
policeman  from  his  position  in  the  room.  I  went 
back  to  my  seat,  and  desired  X  to  come  into  the  room 
and  speak  to  me  properly.  He  came  in  not  knowing 
till  he  got  in  that  there  was  anyone  else  present.  He 
demanded  the  children.  I  said  I  had  not  got  them, 
and  he  became  very  abusive,  only  restrained  from 
violence  by  the  policeman  being  there,  who  thought  so 
seriously  of  the  interview  that  he  remained  with  me 
some  time  after  X  left,  and  reported  the  matter  at 
once  to  the  Chief  Constable.     X,  on  this  occasion, 


INCIDENTS  IN   THE    WORK. 


141 


appeared  to  have  had  a  large  quantity  of  liquor,  and 
was  in  what  the  policeman  called  "  a  state  of  white 
heaty  which  is  just  the  state  in  which  men  do  the 
most  dreadful  things."  I  was  advised  on  this  occasion 
never  again  to  go  to  the  Shelter  alone,  as  X  had  been 
in  prison  for  stabbing.  This  I  saw  in  the  police  books. 
The  first  time,  in  February,  i88(S,  I  was  in  the  Court 
of  Session  about  the  Z  child,  X  took  up  his  position 
behind  mc,  and  for  a  long  time,  I  think  nearly  an 
hour,  continued  to  pour  forth  close  to  me  a  torrent  of 
the  most  revolting,  vile,  and  shocking  language  that 
could  be  strung  together  by  a  wicked  man.  The 
Secretary  and  some  of  the  Directors  were  sitting  by, 
and  though,  of  course,  I  dared  not  look  round,  the 
Secretary  told  me  it  was  all  they  could  do  to  hinder 
X  laying  hands  on  me,  but  at  last  they  got  him  moved 
further  off. 

The  next  time  (March,  1888)  I  was  in  the  Court 
about  the  same  case,  as  also  the  Secretary  and  some 
Directors.  X  said  he  had  brought  a  loaded  pistol 
with  him,  and  swore  that  "  as  it  was  St.  Patrick's  Day, 
he  would  have  the  Secretary  and  myself  dead  before 
night."  I,  on  hearing  this,  when  we  came  out  of 
Court,  went  over  to  the  Police  Office  and  made  a  cowi- 
plaint  to  the  Chief  Constable,  who  advised  me  to  make 
the  circumstance  known  to  the  Leith  police,  and  to 
remain  indoors  until  he  could  see  the  man  and  ad- 
monish him.     He  put  me  into  a  cab,  told  the  driver  to 


n 


142 


OUA'   CHILDREN, 


go  to  the  Leith  Police  Office  before  going  home,  to 
drive  quickly,  keep  to  the  thoroughfares,  and  7iot  stop 
to  speak  to  anybody  ! 

I  did  as  I  was  advised,  till  I  again  saw  the  Chief 
Constable,  and  learned  he  had  remonstrated  with  X. 
I  think,  myself,  some  stronger  measures  should  have 
been  taken,  as  a  week  afterwards,  just  before  I  left  the 
city,  X,  being  pretty  tipsy,  actually  tried  to  get  into 
a  cab  where  I  was  sitting,  and  was  only  hindered 
by  the  agility  of  my  maid  and  the  cabman.  At  this 
time  (March,  1888)  I  had  police  protection  for  some 
weeks. 

While  I  was  winding  up  my  affairs  in  connection 
with  the  Homes,  preparatory  to  leaving  Scotland. 
Various  legal  friends  advised  me  to  go  on  making 
my  arrangements  as  quietly  as  possible,  and  not  to 
let  it  be  too  clearly  understood  when  I  would  sail. 
I  afterwards  learned  zvliyl  Just  at  this  time  I  was 
summoned  to  the  Sheriff's  Court,  with  several  other 
people,  to  give  evidence  about  the  Z  child.  We 
were  interviewed  in  the  Sheriff's  private  room.  As 
I  left  by  the  one  door  through  the  waiting  room,  Mr. 

left  by  the  other,  and  overtaking  me  and  two 

other  ladies  at  the  top  of  the  stair,  advised  us  to  get 
into  a  cab.  He  told  me  afterwards  X  and  Z  were  sit- 
ting in  the  lobby,  and  he  distinctly  heard  them  swear 
in  the  most  dreadful  way  they  would,  if  they  did  not 
gain  the  cas;,  murder  me  here  or  in  Nova   Scotia. 


INCIDENTS   IN   THE    IVOKK. 


1 43 


Mr. 


went  to  them  and  remonstrated,  but  with  no 


effect. 


Just  after  this,  in  April,  1888,  the  Sheriff  asked  me 
to  go  and  see  him  at  his  room  in  the  Sheriff  Court 
Buildings,  and  pointed  out  to  me  it  would  be  desirable 
to  dispose  of  my  property,  as  there  was  reason  to  be- 
lieve my  enemies  would  lay  hands  on  it,  with  a  view 
to  compelling  me  to  submission  as  regarded  the  chil- 
dren. I  said  I  would  not  do  what  I  knew  to  be  cruel 
and  wrong.  I  would  rather  never  see  Scotland  again. 
He  said,  "  If  you  have  property,  they  will  reach  you 
through  that  and  bring  you  back."  I  said,  "  Then  I 
will  have  no  property.  I  would  rather  go  out  and 
leave  all,  as  people  long  ago  did."  He  said,  "  Have 
you  thought  ?  Do  you  mean  what  you  say  ?"  I  re- 
plied, "  I  can't  help  it.  I  catmot  do  what  I  believe  and 
know  to  be  wrong.  A  time  comes  when  one  must 
obey  God  rather  than  men.  I  have  done  what  I  can 
in  Scotland,  and  now  I  will  go  out."  Then,  said  the 
Sheriff,  "  If  you  have  made  up  your  mind  to  that,  I 
say  GO  and  God's  blessing  go  with  you,  but','  he  added 
with  a  smile, "  I'll  give  you  Lord  Westbury's  advice, 
'  If  you  have  an  old  2imbrella,  don't  leave  it  behind  you  !' " 
and,  taking  up  his  inkbottle,  added  still  further,  "  If 
they  find  anything  the  value  0/  that,  they  will  found  a 
jurisdiction  on  it  and  bring  you  back  at  your  own 
expense."  He  then  proceeded  to  details,  and  aston- 
ished me  by  his  knowledge  of  what  property  I  had  in 


144  ^^^   CHILDREN, 

Scotl.ind!  The  houses  in  which  the  children  had 
been  living  must  be  disposed  of  at  once — which  was 
already  being  done.  A  coffee-house  at  Granton  had 
been  erected  at  my  own  expense  on  a  site  the  former 
proprietor  had  granted  me  at  a  nominal  rental,  with 
the  provision  it  was  to  remain  cutircly  in  my  own 
hands.  In  this  difficulty  I  went  to  the  agent,  and 
found  that  the  proprietor  had  sent  me  a  most  kind 
message,  bidding  him  relieve  me  of  any  trouble  at 
once,  and  to  express  his  sympathy  with  me  in  what 
was  taking  place. 

The  Sheriff  then  gave  special  attention  to  a  farm  I 
had  near  Edinburgh,  saying,  "  I  hear  you  have  fine 
horses  there,  and  some  fair  cattle,  they  will  lay  hands 
on  those  at  once."  I  proposed  having  a  "  roup" 
(Anglice,  an  auction),  he  said,  "  You  can't  do  that,  it 
would  be  most  dangerous  to  advertise."  And  then 
gave  me  practical  hints  as  to  what  to  say  on  the  mor- 
row to  my  man  at  the  farm,  winding  up  with  an  in- 
junction to  go  to  my  agent  on  my  return,  not  later 
than  the  next  day's  afternoon,  and  so  bade  me  good- 
bye, and  bid  God  bless  me ! 

I  did  as  I  was  told,  and  found  myself  in  Mr. 's 

office  at  4  p.m.  next  day — related  to  him  what  I  had 
done  and  what  I  had  been  told — he  looked  very 
uncomfortable,  and,  apparently  with  great  reluctance, 
told  me  the  reason  of  all  this  advice  was  that  pro- 
ceedings were  expected  to  be  taken  against  me  (if  not 


/.\r //)/•: NTS    /.V    THE    WORN, 


M5 


already  bc^im)  wliich  would  make  it  impossible  for 
nic  to  buy  or  sell,  or  draw  money  from  ;iny  bank,  the 
supposed  object  beinj^  to  stoj)  the  supplies  of  support 
for  my  children  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  tlius  starve  me 
{throuii^h  tlu'iii)  into  submission.  This  statement  I 
treated  with  utter  incredulity,  believing  an  old  friend 
— whose  house  I  reached  at  <S  p.m. — wouKl  have  told 
me.  Hut  that  evening  I  learned  from  iiim  it  was  only 
too  true!  and  that  he  had  not  told  m<:  because  he 
thought  no  one  would  be  wicked  enough  really  to  do 
it.  That  night  was  a  sad  one  ;  my  friend  said  I  could 
only  escape  the  warrant  by  not  being  found  in  any 
house,  and  that  friends  could  only  shelter  me  and  re- 
fuse to  receive  the  w.irrant  at  great  risk  to  hem- 
^Ives.     He  said,  "IV/iere  7vill  yon  .ii/"^  •^"     I  answered, 

I'o   Miss    ,  an  old  and  intimate    friend  in  the 

country."  I  got  hold  of  my  maid  ;  we  had  no  time 
to  get  anything  else,  and  returned  to  the  house,  where 
I  had  tea.  I  can  only  walk  slowly,  and  it  was  late 
when  we  got  there,  the  maids  had  gone  to  bed,  but 
the  ladies  took  us  in  and  gave  us  a  bed  till  4  a.m. 
Then  we  rose  and  left  the  house  before  the  servants 
were  up,  and  walked  to  the  station,  three  miles.  I 
was  not  able  for  this,  and  it  made  me  ill  for  month.s. 
I  took  refuge  in  a  cab  until  late  enough  to  go  to  a 
friend's  house,  where  I  got  breakfast  and  an  hour's 
rest.  I  shall  never  cease  to  be  grateful  to  her.  I 
went  that  day  to  the  country  and  remained  hidden 

10 


r 


146 


OUK   CHILDREN. 


there  for  cip^lit  day;?,  while  my  foes  sought  liigh  and 
low  for  me,  !)ut  as  no  trace  could  be  found,  gave  it  up. 
The  Directors,  who  had  previously  approved  of  the 
cases,  and  taken  the  passages  of  the  final  party  of 
poor  children,  refused  at  the  last  moment  to  let  them 
po.  I  learned  this  on  the  evening  of  the  15th  April, 
when  1  had  expected  to  meet  the  children.  I  tele- 
graphed to  a  friend  to  ask  his  intervention  and  sailed 
for  Nova  Scotia  the  next  tl«y,  and  the  children  fol- 
lowed soon  after.  There  were  no  further  proceedings 
till  Jime,  1889,  when  the  Court  of*Session  ordered  the 
Directors  to  deliver  up  the  children,  and  they  sent  the 
Secretary  out  to  Nova  Scotia,  in  July,  1889,  to  look 
for  them.  He  a;)plied  to  the  Chief  Justice  of  Nova 
Scotia  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpuSy  which  was  refused, 
and  a  note  was  given  to  the  Secretary  to  this  effect. 
The  Directors  then  joined  with  X,  and  obtained  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  October,  1889.  It,  however, 
was  ineffectual,  and  proceedings  dragged  on  in  Nova 
Scotia  till  May,  1890,  when  I  pressed  for  a  decision — 
again  postptMied  more  than  once.  All  this  was  a 
great  worry  and  extra  demand  on  my  strength  and 
energies.  I  have  often  had  to  rise  at  2  a.m.,  and  drive 
the  rest  of  the  night  to  reach  the  morning  train  at 
Kentville,  in  order  to  get  to  Halifax  on  this  business 
in  the  forenoon.  In  August,  1890,  the  Court  in  Nova 
Scotia  required  me  to  give  the  children's  addresses,  or 
where  I  last  heard  of  them,  which  I  did  at  once.     I 


INCIDENTS   IN    THE    WOKK. 


M7 


was  desired  to  instruct  a  solicitor  to  find  thcni,  wliich 
he  failed  to  do,  but  did  not  tell  me  so  until  neceniber 
23,  l(S90.  I  then  received  a  letter  from  him  to  this 
eftect,  and  another  from  my  ordinary  solicitor,  saying 
that  the  Court  required  a  man  to  be  sent  to  look  for 
the  children  within  twenty-four  hours.  Two  men 
were  sug^^ested — one  was  my  farmer,  the  other  was  a 
detective.  To  both  of  these  I  objected.  To  the  first, 
because  having  a  large  stock  of  cattle  in  the  barn,  I 
could  not  do  without  his  work ;  and  also  because  that, 
being  my  servant,  1  could  not  expect  the  Court  to 
be  really  satisfied  with  any  effort  he  might  make.  To 
the  second  I  objected,  as,  being  a  Roman  Catholic,  I 
could  not  employ  him.  I  {proposed  going  to  Kent- 
ville  to  a  well-known  solicitor  there,  and  ask  him  to 
find  a  man,  competent,  reliable,  and  without  interest 
either  way.  Tiiis  I  did  there  and  then,  though 
the  date  was  23d  December,  the  hour  7  r.M,,  the 
thermometer  below  zero,  the  snow  lying  in  drifts 
seven  feet  deep  on  the  roads  in  some  places,  and  I 
very  far  from  strong  in  health.  Accompanied  by  my 
cousin,  I  set  forth  on  this  expedition  to  drive  in  an 
open  wagon  to  Kentville,  about  twenty-five  miles  off. 
As  wc  might  almost  have  expected  in  such  frost,  the 
bolts  of  the  wagon  snapped,  and  we  broke  down  about 
sixteen  miles  from  home !  I  think  it  was  a  great 
deliverance  and  proof  of  the  fiord's  care  that  this 
happened  near  a  house,  and  not  in  the  woods  and 


\ 


14.S 


OCA'    CHH.DREiY. 


it 


g 


bogs  (or  uncultivated  places)  wc  had  just  passed, 
where  for  tuiles  there  was  no  sign  of  human  habita- 
tion. At  tiie  house  we  got  help,  thi  wagon  was 
'*  rixed  up,"  and  at  12  f.m.  we  reachetl  Kentville,  antl 
sent  the  man  off  next  morning.  Who  can  say  I  did 
did  not  try  to  carry  out  the  orders  of  the  Court  ? 
The  man  failed  to  find  the  children.  I  was  asked  in 
January,  1891,  through  my  solicitor,  I  believe  by  the 
opposing  counsel,  if  I  would  advertise  for  the  chil- 
dren. I  said  "  No."  I  had  already  done  all  I  could 
to  find  them.  I  was  then  told  by  one  well  versed  in 
such  things  I  had  better  be  prepared  to  make  choice 
of  a  prison,  so  as  to  avoid  the  worst. 

I  was  again  before  the  Court  on  the  10th  March, 
1 891,  and  sworn  in  to  undergo  the  interrogatories 
(about  ninety  questions)  on  the  14th  March,  1891, 
which  occupied  from  1 1  a.m.  to  7  p.m.,  with  an  hour 
for  dinner.  Shut  up  alone  with  the  man  appointed 
for  this  purpose  to  thus  morally  torture  me,  not 
allowed  pencil,  paper,  or  means  of  making  memo- 
randa, or  permitted  to  know  the  drift  of  following 
questions  before  answering,  I  was  worn  out. 

On  March  28,  1891,  the  Chief  Justice  and  Judge 
Wetherbee  expressed  great  disapproval  of  this  moral 
torture.  The  Master  of  Interrogatories  declared  that 
I  had  not  cleared  myself  of  contempt  of  Court.  The 
two  judges  aforesaid  held  that  I  had,  Judge  Ritchie 
dissenting.      The   opposing    counsel    clamoured   for 


rNCIDENTS   [M    THE    WORK, 


149 


the  prison  that  afternoon,  at  once!  saying  nothing 
but  sentence  would  satisfy  them  !  The  Chief  Justice 
asked  what  they  wanted.  "  Order  sentence,  my  lord." 
"  What  do  you  mean  by  sentence?"  inquired  his  lord- 
ship. "  The  prison,  my  lord,  for  this  woman ;  now 
you  have  got  her,  keep  her  safely."  Thus  the  uproar 
went  on,  till  the  Chief  Justice  said,  "  Am  I  to  give  this 
sentence  with  my  eyes  shut  and  my  hands  tied,  and 
against  my  own  conscience  and  knowledge  of  what  is 
right !     I  will  do  nothing  of  the  kind  !" 

We  were  dismissed  at  4  p.m.,  the  discussion  having 
lasted  about  three  hours. 

The  case  dragged  on  till  July  10,  1891,  when  the 
decision  was  given  in  my  favour.  But  I  was  so  worn 
out  in  health  that  I  fainted  in  the  street  in  Halifax 
about  the  end  of  June. 

I  was  informed,  on  excellent  authority,  that  my 
whole  crime  had  been  taking  a  Protestant  population 
into  Nova  Scotia,  which  would  tell  at  the  general 
election,  that  when  my  boys  landed,  in  September, 
1886,  they  attracted  a  good  deal  of  attention,  and  on 
finding  that  A^e  had  come  to  found  a  Protestant  colony 
in  the  province,  the  Roman  Catholics  in  Halifax  de- 
termined to  stop  it,  and,  therefore,  wrote  home  to 
their  friends  in  Edinburgh  to  know  if  they  could  find 
an  occasion  against  me  by  reason  of  having  Roman 
Catholic  children,  with  the  result  that  X  was  brought 
forward  as  described   above.      The  date  of  X's  first 


i 


»5o 


OUR   CHILDREN 


demand  for  the  children  agreed  precisely  with  this 
statement. 

The  Roman  Catholic  action  comes  out  clearly  in 
the  proof  before  the  Court  of  Session. 

July,  1 89 1,  I  was  also  most  warmly  congratulated 
on  the  decision  by  a  dignitary  of  the  Church  in 
Nova  Scotia,  who  said :  *'  When  I  first  heard  of  your 
troubles  I  thought  they  merely  were  that  you  were 
a  very  kind-hearted  woman  who  was  very  fond  of 
children,  so  fond  of  them  that  you  had  done  some- 
thing that  was  a  little  irregular,  and  I  hoped  you 
would  not  get  into  a  great  deal  of  trouble  over  it,  but 
I  have  since  learned  very  differently,  and  that  it  is  a 
most  intolerable  piece  of  Popish  persecution.  I  am 
most  thankful  for  the  late  decision  in  your  favour ;  it 
is  the  first  check  that  has  ever  been  given  to  Popish 
tyranny  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  thousands  of  Protestants 
are  rejoicing  in  it." 

I  came  home  on  the  23d  February,  1892,  and  in 
spite  of  arrest  threatened  in  England,  went  to  Scot- 
land in  May  and  returned  in  June.  X  said  he  had 
meantime  gone  to  Nova  Scotia.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
in  the  first  week  of  July,  1892,  he  applied  to  the  Court 
of  Session  for  an  order  against  me  to  appear  before 
them.  On  hearing  this,  without  waiting  till  the  order 
was  served  on  me,  I  went  to  Edinburgh,  on  nth  July, 
1892,  of  my  own  accord. 

I  appeared  by  counsel,  and  explained  that  I  did  not 


mciDEMTS  IN  THE  WORK. 


iSt 


know  vvliere  the  children  were,  and  referred  the 
Court  to  the  proceedings  in  Nova  Scotia.  Event- 
ually, and  after  I  had  laid  before  them  the  whole 
proceedings  in  the  Nova  Scotia  Court,  the  Court 
of  Session  gave  a  unanimous  decision  in  my  favour 
on  23d  November,  1892. 

But  on  the  5th  November  two  summonses  were 
served  on  me,  both  at  the  instance  of  X — one  for 
;^iooo  as  damages  for  loss  of  his  children !  and  the 
other  for  ;^5oo  as  damages  for  an  alleged  libel  con- 
tained in  a  letter  written  by  me  and  published  in  The 
Christian,  of  14th  April,  1892,  in  which  I  referred  to 
him  as  a  man  of  bad  character  who  had  deserted  his 
children. 

The  jfirst  of  these  actions,  after  a  protracted  and 
expensive  litigation,  was  decided  in  my  favour,  on 
appeal  to  the  First  Division  of  the  Court  of  Session, 
on  9th  March,  1893,  it  being  held  that  X  had  already 
got  sufficient  damages  by  accepting  from  the  Directors 
the  sum  of  ;^ioo,  which  they  paid  him  in  consequence 
of  a  similar  action  raised  against  them  in  1892. 

The  second  action  proved  a  regular  fiasco,  for  when 
the  trial  had  been  arranged  to  take  place  on  2 2d 
March,  1893,  before  a  jury,  X,  on  the  last  day  of  the 
Session,  threw  up  the  action,  and  decree  was  given  in 
my  favour.  During  the  long  months  of  waiting  for 
these  actions  to  be  tried,  I  was  mercifully  provided 
with  a  quiet  and  sunny  restin 


i>!- 


m 


iS« 


OUA'    CHILDREN. 


France,  which  was  rendered  necessary  by  the  en- 
feebled state  of  my  health,  owing  to  all  the  fatigue 
and  anxiety  I  had  undergone.  I  cannot  too  strongly 
express  my  gratitude  to  those  friends  who,  during 
this  painful  time,  showed  me  every  kindness  and  so 
much  sympathy,  and  thus  enabled  me  to  weather  the 
storm  to  which  I  was  subjected,  and  from  which  the 
Lord  mercifully  delivered  me  by  the  decisions  of  the 
Courts  and  retreat  of  my  opponents ;  themselves  being 
judges  on  the  very  eve  for  the  second  trial.  As  soon 
as  this  legal  victory  was  proclaimed  I  returned  to  my 
work  for  Our  Children  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  continued 
there  unmolested  until  the  events  related  in  the  next 
chapter  made  it  impossible  for  me  to  continue  my 
work  there  with  any  prospect  of  comfort  or  safety. 


I 


PART  IV. 


A   STRANGE   TALE    OF   EVANGELINE'S 

LAND. 


153 


w 


■■ 


il 


!li 


CHAPTER    XIX. 


1895. 

Evangeline's  Land!     To  every  reader  of  Long- 
fellow's exquisite  poem,  how  much  does  the  name 
recall !     What  a  host  of  poetical  ideas !     How  many 
visions  of  lovely  surroundings  of  land  and  water,  more 
widely  known  than  in  Longfellow's  time,  through  the 
reports  of  enthusiastic  readers  who,  to  see  for  them- 
selves the  home  of  Evangeline,  have  actually  taken 
long  journeys,  anc   have  been  rewarded  by  the  scene 
of  rural  beauty  sc  aptly  described  in  the  "  Acadia"  of 
long  ago !    These  descriptions,  even  in  this  unromantic 
age,  are  endorsed  and  sent  far  and  wide  by  steam  and 
photography— in  the  shape  of  railway  advertisements 
— and  are  successful  in  attracting  visitors  from  long 
distances. 

These  glowing  descriptions  are  all  true,  qtdte  true! 
Indeed,  it  is  wellnigh  impossible  to  exaggerate  the 
beauty  of  Evangeline's  Land, even  in  the  imaginations 
of  people  who  have  never  seen  it,  as  I  have  been  told 
Longfellow  himself  never  did,  yet  his  description  is 
almost  a  photograph  at  least  of  the  Annapolis  Valley, 
the  scene  of  the  events  which  I  am  about  to  record. 


iS6 


OUR   CIIfLDREI^. 


Where  we  settled,  as  related  in  the  foregoing  chap- 
ters, in  June,  1886.  I  returned  to  Scotland  the  two 
next  winters,  and  only  took  up  my  permanent  resi- 
dence at  Aylesford  in  April,  1888.  I  found  on  my 
arrival  there  that  the  Scotch  people  left  in  charge  had 
said  a  good  deal  about  my  efforts  in  the  cause  of 
temperance  in  Scotland,  and,  as  I  supposed  in  conse- 
quence, some  of  our  neighbours,  ladies  in  the  village, 
ministers,  and  others  in  various  directions,  were  very 
earnest  in  their  requests  that  I  would  begin  a  union  of 
W.  C.  T.  U.  in  Aylesford.  I  said  no.  First,  because 
at  that  time  I  did  not  know  anything  about  the  W.  C. 
T.  U. ;  secondly,  because  I  had  enough  to  do  in  look- 
ing after  so  large  a  party ;  thirdly,  because,  being  a 
.stranger,  I  did  not  feel  that  my  efforts  were  likely  to 
do  any  good  until  I  had  time  to  get  acquainted  with 
the  inhabitants.  However,  even  then  I  was  frequently 
asked  to  give  temperance  addresses  in  various  places ; 
and  was  always  willing  to  do  this,  or  anything  else  to 
help  the  cause  of  temperance.  As  time  went  on,  I 
began  to  see  more  and  more  need  for  temperance 
work  in  our  neighbourhood,  and  in  1890,  when  the 
request  was  again  preferred  that  I  should  begin  a 
union  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  Aylesford,  I  felt  it  would 
be  right  to  do  so.  The  result  was  a  small  but  active 
and  flourishing  union,  which  was  very  popular  with 
all  the  decent  portion  of  the  community.  In  1893  I 
was  requested  to  become  the  superintendent  of  the 


/I  STKAXGE    TAI.E   OF  EVA NG EL IX IT S  LAND. 


»57 


W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Kings  County,  where  also  my  work 
seemed  acceptable;  so  much  so  that  in  March,  1894, 
when  the  Prohibition  Committee  in  Halifax  asked  me 
to  do  what  I  could  for  the  cause  in  the  county,  friends 
came  forward  to  help  me  in  every  polling  district, 
with  the  result  that  in  KinL;s  County  we  had  three 
thousand  seven  hundred  votes  for  prohibition  and  only 
two  hundred  against  it,  so  that  what  had  been  con- 
sidered "  Hopeless  Kings''  came  in  as  the  banner 
county  of  Nova  Scotia.  And  all  went  well  until 
March,  1895.  On  the  25th  of  that  month  I  received 
a  letter  from  a  well-known  and  respected  doctor,  in 
which  he  informed  me  that  one  of  my  girls  had  come 
into  his  hands  in  very  serious  trouble ;  that  she  was 
at  a  certain  house  in  the  adjoining  county  of  Annap- 
olis, about  thirty  miles  from  my  residence;  that  he 
thought  a  most  serious  investigation  should  take 
place,  as  the  girl  had  received  most  improper  treat- 
ment. In  the  evening  of  the  same  day  the  above  was 
confirmed  by  telephone,  saying  the  girl  was  getting 
worse  and  begging  me  to  go  and  see  her  at  once, 
which  I  did,  when  I  found  her  in  a  terrible  condition  ; 
the  magistrate  was  also  there,  who  had  just  taken  her 
dying  declaration  ;  the  revelation  it  contained  was  of 
the  most  horrible  description. 

While  we  were  speaking  of  the  matter  the  doctor 
came  into  the  room  and  said  it  was  not  safe  to  speak 
for  fear  of  being  overheard ;  he  added,  it  would  be 


I 
i 


158 


OUR   CHILDREN, 


■■■.  I 


4)1 


necessary  to  have  a  legal  opinion  on  the  matter,  be- 
cause if  the  facts  should  be  hidden,  he  and  I  would 
be  held  as  accessories  after  the  fact. 

This  statement  so  impressed  me  that  I  deemed  it 
necessary  to  go  to  Halifax  to  consult  my  solicitor, 
who  decided  that  if  this  information  were  true,  there 
was  no  alternative  but  to  have  the  two  men  arrested 
— viz.,  the  doctor  who  performed  the  operation  and 
the  man  who  employed  him. 

I  said  that  as  further  inquiry  into  the  matter  was 
necessary,  I  did  not  feel  capable  of  doing  it,  and  that 
such  a  proceeding  must  be  undertaken  by  a  lawyer, 
and  begged  him  to  go  to  the  place  where  the  girl  was 
and  make  all  inquiry  necessary.  This  he  did,  and 
found  ample  ground  for  a  strict  investigation. 

I  went  in  the  meantime  on  to  Annapolis  Royal  to 
consult  Mr.  J.  J.  Ritchie,  Queen's  counsel  in  those 
parts.  I  waited  there  until  my  solicitor  came.  From 
what  he  had  learned  of  the  circumstances,  both  the  i 
gentlemen  were  of  opinion  that  it  was  necessary  for 
me  to  lay  information  against  the  two  men,  which  I 
did.  and  they  were  arrested  on  Saturday,  March  30. 
In  order  to  have  the  arrest  carried  out,  it  was  thought 
best  to  have  the  constables  sent  from  Annapolis,  as 
the  local  constables  in  Aylesford  are  known  to  be 
completely  useless.  The  only  exception  to  these  use- 
less officers  is  Constable  John  Selfridge. 

The   prisoners   were    brought    to   Annapolis    and 


■%:\:  ^i! 


A  ST/iAiVGE  TALE  OF  EVANGELINE'S  LAND. 


159 


lodged  in  the  jail  at  noon  on  the  30th  of  March.  I 
was  advised  not  to  leave  Annapolis  until  this  was 
done,  as  they  were  well  known  to  be  desperate  char- 
acters. However,  on  their  arrival  I  went  home  by 
the  next  train.  I  was  accompanied  by  my  solicitor. 
I  said  to  him  that,  knowing  the  habits  of  that  part  of 
the  country  (which  are,  that  if  you  offend  any  one, 
especially  a  bad  character,  your  barn  is  probably 
doomed  to  be  burnt  in  less  than  a  week !),  I  had  bet- 
ter look  after  my  buildings.  I  thought  only  of  the 
barn,  God  help  me.  I  had  no  idea  of  any  other  dan- 
ger /  My  adviser  said  I  had  better  warn  my  men 
when  I  got  home,  which  I  did  at  once  as  to  the  barns 
and  mill.  I  never  thought  of  the  house  as  being  in 
danger. 

That  was  on  Saturday  afternoon,  March  30,  1895. 
Sunday,  Monday,  and  Tuesday  passed  without  any- 
thing unusual.  On  Monday  night  about  ten  o'clock 
we  heard  talking  outside,  but  believed  it  to  be  some 
of  our  own  people ;  it  turned  out  it  was  not. 

On  Tuesday  night  there  were  in  the  Big  House 
twenty-six  people,  consisting  of  myself,  six  servants, 
and  nineteen  children,  of  these  eighteen  below  twelve 
years  old.  We  all  went  to  bed  as  usual,  and  at  3.45 
next  morning  I  was  awakened  by  a  loud  outcry.  It 
was  the  shrieking  of  frightened  women  and  children. 
I  went  instantly  towards  the  nursery  passage  commu- 
nicating through  my  dressing-room,  and  was  met  at 


I,  ■ 

i 


160 


OL'A'    ClIll.DREX, 


'S'l 


i 


the  door  by  all  the  women  and  some  of  the  children, 
who  were  of  all  ages  from  three  years  old  to  twelve. 
I  asked  what  was  the  matter.  One  of  the  women  re- 
plied, "the  house  was  on  fire  and  full  of  smoke,  and 
the  rest  of  the  children  were  being  suffocated  and 
they  (the  women)  could  do  nothing  with  them." 

I  went  on  to  the  children's  room,  which  I  found 
full  of  dense  smoke ;  with  great  difficulty  I  persuaded 
some  of  them  to  come  to  me.  The  others  were  afraid 
to  move  and  stayed  in  bed.  We  saw  no  fire  then,  but 
the  smoke  was  so  dense  I  cjuld  not  see  my  hand 
before  me.  I  gave  the  children  who  had  come  to  me 
to  the  women,  who  took  them  out ;  and  I  stayed  in 
the  room  alone  to  get  the  rest.  The  cries  and  plead- 
ing of  the  poor,  terrified  little  ones,  too  frightened  to 
get  out  of  their  beds,  were  pitiful.  "  I'm  choking,  oh, 
why  don't  you  come  to  your  boys?  It's  hurting  us; 
ifs  killing  us,"  etc.  It  was  hopeless  to  find  them  all 
in  the  dark  quickly  enough  for  safety,  as  the  room  was 
large  and  the  voices  in  various  directions,  besides  I 
must  keep  hold  of  the  baby  child  I  had  got.  The  only 
hope  was  to  persuade  them  to  come  to  inc.  This  I  did 
by  telling  them  if  they  would  only  come,  God  would 
take  care  of  us  all.  One  little  thing  said,  "  I  don't 
sec  God."  I  replied,  "  I  daresay  not,  but  He's  there 
for  all  that."  Another  said,  "  I  don't  see  you  either." 
This  idea  of  God's  actual  presence,  and  power  to  help 
them,    eemcd    to    comfort   them ;   and  they  stopped 


A  SIR  INGE    TAl.E   OF  EVANGELINE'S  LAND.      i6l 

crying,  and  made  their  way  through  the  smoke  to  me. 
I  could  not  see  any  of  them,  only  felt  their  little 
hands  clinging  to  my  night-dress.  I  had  prayed 
earnestly  to  Him  who  is  the  ever  watchful  Helper 
of  the  helpless  ever  since  I  realized  our  danger,  and 
He  heard  me  and  came  to  ou-  relief,  and  gave  the 
poor  little  children  courage  and  strength  to  keep 
their  senses  and  come  out  of  their  beds  to  me.  One 
of  the  big  girls  came  back  and  took  the  baby  child 
from  me,  while  I  sent  the  others  along  the  passage. 

But  /could  not  for  a  few  minutes  leave  the  room, 
for  I  did  not  know  if  all  were  saved.  I  did  not 
know  what  to  do;  all  was  dark  with  thick,  dense 
smoke,  there  might  still  be  a  child  there  who  was  too 
far  gone  to  cry.  I  could  only  ask  God  to  tell  me  if 
there  were  any  more,  and,  oh,  dear  friend  who  may 
read  this,  T  wish  I  could  tell  you  how  much  nearer 
heaven  is  than  earth  at  a  time  like  that,  when  you 
are  literally  on  the  top  of  a  big  fire.  How  true  His 
promise  is,  "  When  thou  passeth  through  the  fire 
I  WILL  BE  WITH  thee"  !  Verily,  the  Lord  is  the  same, 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever!  The  same  as  when 
the  Fourth  was  seen  with  the  three  children  of  Israel 
in  the  burning,  fiery  furnace,  and  it  is  written,  "  The 

FORM  OF  THE  FoURTH  WAS  LIKE  UNTO  THE  SoN  OF 

God."  He  was  with  us  in  that  children's  room  that 
night.  I  waited  alone  wit!.  Him  for  two  or  three  min- 
utes, and  then  it  seemed  as  if  He  told  me  there  were 

II 


t63 


<)/A'  Clin  nui'.N. 


1 


\'^ 


'i  I, 


!♦      -ht 


no  mere,  and  that  1  h.ul  better  ^v) — yes,  1  had  bettel- 
go.  There  was  no  time  to  lose,  for  in  seven  or  eif^ht 
niinules  after  I  left  that  tlreadful  room  the  wliole  back 
of  the  house  fell  in.  The  joists  must  have  been  burnt 
nearly  throuijh  while  1  was  stamliui;  on  the  hot  floor. 

I  cannot  but  tell  nou  what  to  me  was  a  very  touch- 
ing incident  :  two  little  i;irls  hail  been  asleep  in  an 
..djoining  room,  and,  awakened  by  the  outcry,  they, 
knowint;  I  had  <ciy>\\Q.  into  the  nursery,  actually  icaifcd 
in  the  passai^e  above  the  fire  until  they  saw  me  come 
out.  Then  1  went  to  the  front  of  the  house,  where 
one  of  my  boys  (twelve  years  old)  had  most  bravely 
and  cleverly  collected  all  the  chiKlrcn  in  the  porch 
below,  and  so  saved  thirteen  youni;er  than  himself 
From  the  top  of  the  front  stairca.se  (mercifully  made 
of  iron,  planned  and  matlc  nine  years  before)  I  asked 
if  they  were  all  iliac !  The  answer  was,  Almost  all. 
Hearing  almost,  I  felt  it  was  not  enough  ;  on  finding 
two  big  girls  missing,  who  had  gone  up  to  ring  the 
alarm-bell,  I  went  back  to  try  and  get  through  the 
smoke  to  thetn  ;  but  by  that  time  I  could  not.  1  lost 
my  way  in  my  own  bedroom  twice,  and  felt  I  must 
give  it  up,  as  I  could  hardly  stantl.  I  thought  "  the 
Lord  is  very  merciful.  He  may  have  had  pity  0:1 
them  in  some  other  way."  It  turned  out  so — they 
had  \ioi  out  bv  a  back  window. 

Then  I  saw  them  all  out,  the  maids  carrying  the 
very   little   ones.     The   others   toddled    over   to   the 


//   S/'KAXaR    TAI.E   01'   EVANGELINE'S  f.AMK       163 

Boys*  House,  several  liundred  yards  away,  on  their 
poor  little  bare  feet  over  ice  and  snow,  with  nothing 
on  but  their  ni^ht-^nvvns,  every  one  of  us  barefooted. 
I  know  my  feet  were  first  blistered  by  the  hot  b(/ards 
in  the  ehildrcn's  room,  and  very  snon  bleedin^^  on  the 
ice  and  stones  on  the  bleak  iiill-sitle. 

On  reaching  the  IJoys'  House  the  fust  object  was 
to  get  the  childreik  into  the  beds,  still  warm,  which 
the  elder  boys  hail  just  left  to  ^o  and  help  at  tlie  fire. 
One  of  the  women  gave  me  a  pair  of  slippers  and  a 
boy's  fur  coat,  and  thus  attired  I  watched  the  barn 
until  0.30,  when  the  fire  died  down ;  and  the  liig 
House  at  Hillfoot  Farm  was  a  heap  of  ashes. 

There  we  were,  homeless,  naked,  and  without  a 
shred  of  personal  property.  Have  you  thought  what 
that  means?  No  clothes,  no  furniture,  no  shelter,  no 
personal  possessions  or  comforts  of  any  kind ;  no 
books,  no  pa[)ers ;  literally  NoriiiNf;  saved  but  our 
lives,  h'or  those  who  have  not  gone  through  a  like 
experience  it  is  hard  for  an'  one  to  realize  ;  possible 
even  for  some  to  smile  ;  as  a  few  of  th'  passengers  in 
the  train  did  when  the\  saw  a  small  party  of  us 
making  our  way  to  Halifax,  'et  it  is  a  terrible  ordeal 
to  go  through. 

Until  I  got  outside  the  house  I  was  not  hopeless, 
for  I  thought  only  of  one  Jire,  but  as  soon  as  I  was 
outside  the  hall  door  I  saw  a  second  fire  raging  in  the 
wood-shed. 


d1 


164 


OCrR   CHILDREN. 


l\ 


The  existence  of  this  second  fire  has  been  at- 
tempted to  be  denied,  but  it  was  proved  by  the  tivo 
fires  having  been  seen  by  a  man  living  a  mile  off. 
The  fires  were  forty-five  feet  apart.  There  was  not 
a  stick  of  dry  wood  in  the  house  on  the  night  of  the 
outr  ige,  but  only  wood  so  green  and  full  of  half-melted 
ice  as  to  leave  a  puddle  on  the  floor,  it  would  not  have 
burnt  without  the  addition  of  parafin  oil,  of  which  there 
was  a  strong  smell. 

As  I  said  before,  there  was  literally  nothing  saved 
but  our  lives  (the  insurance  being  very  small) ;  and  as 
barely  twenty  minutes  elapsed  between  the  first  alarm 
(given  by  the  children  who  awoke  choking)  and  the 
roof  falling  in,  I  think  the  wonder  is  that  any  of  us 
were  saved  alive.  Truly,  "  The  angel  of  the  Lord 
encampeth  round  about  them  that  fear  Him  and  de^ 
livercth  tJiem!'  The  enemy  of  souls  and  his  emissaries 
could  bum  the  house,  but  they  coidd  not  burn  us,  without 
the  permission  of  a  higher  power. 

Several  of  the  children  suffered  in  health  from  the 
shock  and  exposure,  but  I  was  the  only  one  actually 
injured  by  the  immediate  effect  of  the  fire,  and  suf- 
fered much  for  more  than  a  year  from  the  internal 
scorching  of  breathing  dense  smoke  and  overheated 
air,  which  sadly  affected  my  heart  and  ^ungs,  and 
from  the  effect  of  which  more  than  one  doctor  told 
me  most  people  die  three  days  after  the  occurrence. 
Even  now  I  am  far  from  strong.     Two  days  after  the 


A  STRANGE   7 ALE   OF  EVAA'GE LINES  LAND.      165 


fire  I  was  able  to  be  removed  to  Halifax,  and  h&ve 
never  been  a  night  at  the  Hillfoot  Farm  again.  Places 
were  found  for  the  servants,  and  six  of  the  children 
went  at  once  to  homes  which  had  been  previously- 
arranged,  but  of  all  their  nice  new  outfits  not  a  stitch 
remained.  The  rest  were  cared  for  at  the  Boys'  House 
until  I  could  provide  for  them  in  safer  parts  of  the 
country.  This  I  did  before  leaving  Nova  Scotia,  on 
the  19th  of  July,  1895.  Up  to  that  time  I  hoped  to 
be  able  to  return  to  my  farm,  but  after  the  (what  I 
can  only  call)  mock  trial  at  Bridgetown,  I  felt  that 
unless  protection  could  be  obtained  from  the  Domin- 
ion Government,  as  that  of  Nova  Scotia  appeared  to 
be  utterly  powerless  or  callous  in  the  matter,  I  felt 
my  position  very  unsafe,  as  I  had  been  credibly  in- 
formed that  the  gang,  or  some  of  them,  had  sworn  in 
the  most  horrible  manner  "  that  they  would  not  have 
me  round  that  country.  That  it  would  be  useless  for 
me  to  think  of  rebuilding,  for,  as  fast  as  my  houses 
were  built,  they  tvould  be  burned,  as  they  had  been 

BEFORE  !" 

We  win  now  go  on  with  the  strange  story  and  see 
what  was  done  to  these  sinners  against  humanity  and 
morality,  in  having,  as  I  have  said,  horribly  ill-used  a 
helpless  girl.  On  the  9th  of  April  I  was  credibly 
informed  by  the  poor-law  authorities  of  Annapolis 
County,  through  the  inspector  at  Aylesford,  that  un- 
less the  girl  were  protected  she  would  be  carried  off 


166 


orR  cnrt.DtiKS'. 


\\ 


■•\      rr 


*      liHl 


and  made  away  with.  Crown  Prosecutor  J.  G,  H. 
Parker,  of  Bridgetown,  Mr.  J.  J.  Ritchie,  of  Annapolis, 
and  Counsellor  Vidito  were  all  so  impressed  with  this 
idea  of  danger  that  they  had  the  girl  carried  out  of 
the  house,  where  she  was  lymg  on  a  bed,  by  six  men 
to  a  safer  place  some  distance  off".  This  was  done ; 
two  constables — one  from  Halifax,  the  other  from 
Annapolis — being  constantly  in  the  house  to  prevent 
any  attempt  being  made  to  carry  her  off.  This  watch 
was  kept  up  day  and  night  for  three  weeks  ;  and  I 
was  informed  that  in  consequence  of  our  vigilance  no 
attempt  had  been  made,  although  a  reward  of  ;^2000 
(two  thousand  dollars)  had  been  offered  to  get  her  out 
in  order  to  prevent  her  giving  evidence.  The  doctor 
who  attended  her  at  Annapolis  (where  she  had  to  be 
kept  pending  the  preliminary  examination)  received 
anonymous  correspondence  with  a  request  to  deliver 
it  to  iier,  which  was  of  a  nature  to  frighten  the  girl. 
At  that  time  she  was  waiting  to  give  her  evidence  in 
the  case.  The  doctor  did  not  deliver  the  message, 
but  did  not  think  it  wise  to  say  he  had  not  done  so, 
lest  the  enemy  should  find  another  means  of  commu- 
nication. She  was  now  under  my  care,  and  I  nursed 
her  day  and  night,  requiring  the  help  of  two  watchmen 
to  avoid  annoyance. 

The  preliminary  examination  lasted  three  weeks, 
with  the  result  that  the  prisoners  were  committed  for 
trial,  the  evidence  of  their  guilt  being  most  clear  and 


A  STKAXCE   TALE   OF  EVAXG RUNE'S  LAND,      167 

convincing.  While  the  girl  had  been  employed  as 
servant  by  one  of  the  prisoners,  she  had  been  sub- 
jected to  the  most  revolting  cruelty,  the  marks  of 
which  were  still  visible  when  the  doctor  first  S'int  for 
me  to  go  and  see  her. 

As  I  have  said,  the  result  of  the  examination  before 
the  stipendiary  magistrate  was  that  both  prisoners 
were  committed  for  trial.  No  sooner  was  this  done 
than  the  county  court  judge,  without  informing  the 
crown  prosecutor  or  the  assisting  counsel,  liberated 
the  doctor  at  10.30  p.m.  on  merely  nominal  bail.  I 
may  mention  that  during  his  supposed  incarceration 
this  prisoner  (although  the  counsel  for  the  prosecution 
successfully  opposed  every  application  for  bail)  was 
frequently  seen  going  about  the  streets  of  Annapolis, 
receiving  visitors  in  the  jailer's  family,  and  making 
himself  generally  agreeable  as  a  visitor  in  the  house. 

When  the  case  of  the  two  prisoners  came  before  the 
grand  jury  at  Bridgetown  on  the  i8th  of  June  follow- 
ing (1895),  the  judge  opened  the  proceedings  by  giv- 
ing the  strongest  possible  charge  to  the  grand  jury 
that  they  find  no  bill  against  the  prisoners,  thus  ef- 
fectually protecting  them.  He  said  that  the  pris- 
oner, at  whose  instigation  the  evil  had  been  done  in 
the  first  instance,  had  gone  to  another  doctor,  who 
had  refused  to  do  it,  and  they  might  indict  him 
for  attempting  to  have  it  done.  This  they  did.  The 
petit  jury  in  the  case  was  most  obviously  and  infa- 


1 68 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


It 


li  " 


mously  packed,  the  judge  being  aware  of  it;  yet  he 
allowed  the  trial  to  proceed,  dind,  of  cottrse,  t\iQ  verdict 
was  not  guilty. 

In  order  to  create  a  sentiment  in  favour  of  his  impar- 
tiality, the  judge  fined  the  sheriff  $i(X)  (one  hundred 
dollars)  ostensibly  for  contempt  of  court,  but  really 
{he  said)  because  the  sheriff  had  packed  the  jury. 
One  strong  bond  among  the  members  of  this  gang 
is  strong  political  influence ;  they  are  all  Liberals,  and 
most  of  them  very  useful  to  the  Liberal  interest. 
The  judge  said  to  me,  "The  fact  is,  no  one  can  be 
convicted  in  this  country  unless  certain  people  please." 

I  think,  however,  they  should  be  fairly  tried  in  the 
interest  of  the  public. 

This  horrible  condition  of  public  morals  has  been 
known  to  many  decent  people  for  many  years,  and  the 
frequency  of  this  particular  form  of  crime  has  simply 
poisoned  the  moral  sentiment  of  appalling  numbers  of 
people  in  Annapolis  and  Kings  Counties ;  deaths  from 
it  have  been  by  no  means  uncommon.  I  was  told  by 
various  respectable  people,  among  others  an  official  of 
the  crown,  that  one  woman  had  been  simply  murdered 
from  this  cause  at  Middleton  in  the  fall  of  1894,  and 
that  between  the  months  of  January  and  May,  1895, 
no  less  than  three  graves  had  been  made  in  Middleton 
church-yard  and  filled  by  three  young  women  from 
this  cause  alone.  Of  course,  an  impetus  was  given  to 
this  horrible  trade  by  a  house  of  ill-fame  being  opened 


A  STRANGE    TALE  OF  EVANGELINE S  LAND       169 

on  the  outskirts  of  the  village  of  Middleton  which 
"  ivas  found  profitable^'  and  accordingly  a  branch  of 
the  same  was  opened  in  Aylesford,  To  compass  the 
supply  of  young  girls  for  these,  and  doubtless  other 
places  of  a  like  character,  two  procuresses  were  em- 
ployed to  go  about  and  trap  the  unwary.  The  horri- 
ble ingenuity  and  fiendish  barbarity  in  this  instance 
are  too  revolting  for  publication  here,  and  inconceiv- 
able in  any  but  demons.  Of  course,  I  was  totally 
ignorant  of  all  these  facts  until  I  had  taken  the  abso- 
lutely necessary  step  of  giving  information  in  this  case 
of  crime,  which  was  brought  to  my  personal  knowl- 
edge by  events  over  which  I  had  no  control,  but  to 
screen  which  would  have  been  in  itself  becoming 
accessory  to  crime  after  its  commission.  That  I  v/as 
fully  warranted  in  acting  as  I  did  in  the  matter  is,  I 
think,  completely  confirmed  by  the  following  letter, 
which  was  written  at  my  request,  for  the  purpose  of 
publication,  by  the  gentleman  who  acted  as  the  assisting 
counsel  for  the  prosecution,  and  whose  name  is  too 
well  known  to  require  any  introduction  or  comment. 


J.J.   RITCHIE,  Q.C.,  LL.B., 
Harvard, 
Solicitor  for  Bank  of  Nova  Scotia 
AND  Union  Bank  of  Halifax. 

.^  .: Annapolis  Royal,  Canada,  July  20,  1895. 

My  dear  Miss  Stirling, — Referring  to  our  conversation 
at  Bridgetown  the  other  day,  I  desire  to  say  that  I  cannot  see 


170 


01 'k   ('////.PA'FM 


'H 


-■'  1 


I     'f 


how  any  <»nc  posscssinj;  any  knowledge  of  (he  tarts  could 
doubt  that  you  were  fully  justified  in  the  course  which  you  took 
in  regard  to  the  case  of  (irace  Ke^,'an.  Hcfore  you  lai<l  the 
information  against  Ur.  ^^iller  and  Mr.  Robert  S.  I'arker.  you 
had  the  declaration  of  (irace  Kegan  as  to  the  cause  of  her 
condition,  taken  by  J.  V).  t)akes,  Esuuire,  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  and  sworn  to  before  him  at  a  time  when  neither  (irace 
Fegan  nor  the  doctor  in  attendance  thought  there  was  any 
hope  of  her  recovery.  The  law  attaches  such  weight  to  dec- 
larations of  this  character  as  to  receive  them  in  evidence  even 
in  cases  of  murder,  although  not  sworn  to.  This  is  done  on 
the  principle  that  the  person  making  the  declaration  is  at  the 
point  of  death,  ami  every  hope  of  this  world  is  gone,  and 
every  motive  to  falsehood  silenced,  and  the  mind  induced  by 
the  most  powerful  considerations  t*  speak  the  truth. 

It  cannot  therefore  l>e  said  that  you  were  not  justified  iii 
acting  upon  this  dei-l-vfaiion  which  I  now  enclose.  If  anything 
more  is  required,  I  would  refer  to  the  sworn  testimony  taken 
before  Stipendiary  Leavitt  as  a  complete  justification.  I  sent 
the  other  day  to  your  solicitor,  Wallace  McDonald,  Estpiire, 
typewritten  copies  of  the  evidence.  • 

That  very  gross  immorality  has  been   rampant  in   certain 

portions  of  this  county  and  Kings  is  also  amply  proved  by  the 

evidence,  and  if  any  one  doubts  this,  I  think  a  perusal  of  the 

evidence  will  settle  the  matter. 

Believe  me. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

(Signed)  J.  J.  Ritchie. 

Miss  Stirling,  Halifax. 


If' 


/I  sTk'.ixa/-:  TAt.E  or  EVAi^cia.iSE's  i .wh. 


•7' 


I  have  not  the  slij^htest  moral  doulit  that  tli'*  out- 
rage wliich  took  place  as  I  have  described  three  mights 
after  my  action  in  the  matter  was  with  the  7<iew  of  pre- 
venting any  further  lii^hf  beint^  brongJit  to  bear  nn  sneh 
doings  in  Evangeline' s  Land.  Tliat  I  am  not  alone  in 
this  opinion  will  be  seen  from  the  following  (juotation 
in  the  Montreal  Witness,  from  a  Halifax  [)apcr : — 

Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  November  lo,  1897. 

The  statemenls  made  by  Miss  Stirlinj;  are  not  regarded  seri- 
ously here.  In  fact,  the  charitable  view  taken  of  it  is  that  they 
are  hallucinations. 

Miss  Stirling  came  here  from  Scotland  aljoiit  ten  years 
ajjo.  She  was  possessed  of  considerable  wealth,  and  started 
a  Home  for  orphans  and  friendless  girls  at  Aylesford,  One  of 
the  girls  got  into  trouble,  and  through  the  prosecution  of  the 
author  of  the  girl's  disgrace  some  bitterness  was  created,  and 
the  Home  was  burned.  Some  think  the  fire  was  accidental, 
while  others  are  of  opinion  that  it  was  resolved  to  get  rid  of 
Miss  Stirling  and  her  girls  from  the  scene,  and  this  unlawful 
method  was  taken  to  do  so. 


On  being  shown  the  above  quotation,  I  requested 
the  Witness  to  make  public  my  view  of  the  matter — 
at  least  to  ask  some  questions  which  were  suggested 
to  my  mind  by  the  Halifax  correspondent's  admis- 
sions. 

Miss  Stirling,  late  of  Hillfoot  Farm,  Nova  Scotia,  stated  to 
a  Witness  reporter  this  morning  that  she  is  very  much  inter- 
ested in  the  communication  from    Halifax,   published  in  the 


Ifi 


OVk   CHIt.DRE^. 


Witness  yestertLiy,  in  which  the  correspondent  stcited  that  the 
charitable  view  taken  of  her  statements  is  that  they  are  hal- 
lucinations. 

Miss  Stirling  said,  regarding  this,  If  my  statements  arc  to 
be  regarded  as  hallucinations,  it  would  be  well  to  find  out 
whether  the  two  men,  Miller  and  Parker,  were  labouring  under 
an  hallucination  when  they  spent  nine  weeks  in  the  jail  at 
Annapolis.  I  would  inquire  whether  the  insurance  companies 
laboured  under  an  hallucination  when  they  paid  to  Miss  Stir- 
ling #3000  insurance  on  the  house  and  its  contents  which 
were  entirely  destroyed  on  April  3,  1895. 

To  me  it  is  remarkable  that  the  "  hallucmation"  regarding 
the  fire  should  be  endorsed  by  half  the  community  in  Nova 
Scotia,  with  whom  the  correspondent  is  in  communication. 

The  correspondent  says  : — 

"  Some  think  the  fire  was  accidental,  while  others  are  of  the 
opinion  that  it  was  resolved  to  get  rid  of  Miss  Stirling  and  her 
girls,  and  this  unlawful  method  was  taken  to  do  so."  In  con- 
nection with  the  latter  opinion  I  would  inquire  who  resolved  to 
"get  rid  of  Miss  Stirling"  ?  Was  it  the  respectable  portion 
of  the  community  or  was  it  evil-doers  ?  Is  it  allowable  in 
Nova  Scotia  to  "  get  rid"  of  inconvenient  people  ?  If  there  is 
any  law  allowing  people  to  be  "  got  rid"  of  in  that  province  I 
would  like  to  know  if  an  unlawful  metliod  does  not  require  an 
investigation  ?  If  there  is  really  such  a  law  it  would  be  well 
that  the  public  were  informed  of  it,  in  order  that  they  might 
exercise  discretion  in  coming  within  reach  of  it. 

I  can  support  my  statements  in  everything  by  document- 
ary evidence,  except  the  fact  of  the  fire,  of  which  the  paying 
of  the  insurance  policies  should  be  sufficient  evidence.    To  my 


A  STA'/tJVOE    TALE  Oh  EVANGELINE S  LAND. 


»73 


mind  it  is  a  very  frightful  thing  that  the  correspondent  should 
coolly  record  a  resolution  to  "get  rid  of  Miss  Stirling  and  her 
girls,"  as  this  idea  of  "getting  rid"  of  somebody  is  the  chief 
motive  which  has  actuated  murder  from  Cain  downward. 


m 
is 


The  Halifax  correspondent  j^oes  on  to  say : — 

Miss  Stirling  spent  money  freely,  and  was  regarded  as  a 
well-meaning  but /^rw/zV?;- woman, 

I  am  delighted  to  hear  it,  that  I  thus  impressed  the 
community  in  Nova  Scotia,  for  I  read  in  the  Word  of 
God,  in  the  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  Titus,  ii.  13,  14: 
"Our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  gave  Himself  for  us:  that 
He  might  purify  unto  Himself  a  peculiar  people, 
zealous  of  good  works.''  And  with  all  reverence  I  say 
it  that  I  feel  convinced  if  He  were  suddenly  to  appear 
in  Nova  Scotia,  He  would  be  regarded  by  the  ma- 
jority of  the  inhabitants  as  a  most  peculiar  person. 
His  apostles,  likewise,  from  all  we  read  of  them,  and 
"  those  women  who  helped  them  much  in  the  Lord," 
were  in  their  day  and  generation  considered  very  pe- 
culiar people,  and  were  persecuted  accordingly.  The 
Lord's  people  must  expect  that.  But  that  the  penalty 
for  a  woman  doing  what  the  law  requires  in  defence 
of  another  woman  should  be  that  she  and  her  un- 
offending household,  comprising  a  number  of  young 
children,  could  be  set  fire  to  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  having  only  time  to  escape  with  life,  hardly 
even  with  that,  but  continuing  to  exist  through  great 


'74 


OUR    CIIILDKEiV. 


,i 


m 


suffering  and  with  permanently  impaired  health,  seems 
a  stranL^e  episode  in  a  professedly  free  country  like 
Canada;  even  for  the  purpose  of  ''getting  rid''  of  so 
peculiar  and  inconvenient  a  person  as  M'ss  Stirling, 
whose  only  crime  (as  set  forth  by  the  counsel  for  the 
prisoners  at  the  mock  trial  at  l^ridgetown)  was  that 
**  she  had  come  from  Scotland  some  years  ago,  and 
had  ever  since  been  posing  as  a  Reformer ;"  in  plain 
English,  har'  actively  done  all  the  good  she  could. 

I  believe  inquiries  were  made  as  to  whether,  and 
hcnv  far,  I  had  irritated  my  neighbours,  but  no  one, 
man,  woman,  or  child,  in  the  Annapolis  Valley,  could 
be  found  to  say  I  had  ever  been  anything  but  kind 
and  considerate  to  them. 

Dear  sisters  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  these  facts  concer*. 
YOU.  In  the  action  which  I  was  obliged  to  take  in 
the  matter  of  giving  information  concerning  crime,  I 
simply  did  what  every  decent  citizen  is  bound  to  do 
under  snnilar  circumstances.  In  my  whole  life,  the 
aim  and  object  ot  which  was  to  do  good,  as  above 
declared,  my  enemies  themselves  being  the  judges,  I 
say  in  this  respect,  I  have  only  done  ivhat  every  one 
of  you  has  undertaken,  and  is  pledged  to  do,  by  the 
promise  which  she  has  signed  as  a  member  of  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  which  she  openly  confesses  to  the 
world  b\'  the  white  ribbon  she  wears.  You,  as  well 
as  I,  have  pledged  yourselves  to  do  all  you  can  to 
spread   temperance  sentiment,  and   by   every   lawful 


A  STRANGE    TAI.F.    OF  EVA M: E f.lXK s  /.AX/K      ,  7 - 

means  in  your  power  to  promote  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance; also,  we  wear  the  white  ribbon  to  show  we 
uphold  the  cause  of  social  purity  and  oppose  i.nmo- 
rality  in  every  shape.     In  fact,  by  it  we  announce  pub- 
hcly  that  we  remember,  and  feel  bound  by,  the  vows 
taken  for  us  at  our  baptism,  "That  we  would  be  faith- 
ful soldiers  and   servants   of  our    Lord  and    Mast^T 
Jesus  Christ  to  our  life's  end,  and  never  be  ashamed 
to  fight  under  His  banner  against  the  world,  the  flesh 
and  the  devil."     This  is  practically  what  we  vow  when 
we  put  on  the  white  ribbon.    And  it  is  well  worth  our 
•while  to  consider  what  is  our  position  in  faithfully  car- 
lying  on  this  warfare.     Is  the  penalty  for  that  to  be 
subject    without   warning  to  a  sudden   and    horrible 
death  ?  or  if  delivered  alive  from  the  flames  kindled 
by  wicked  hands  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  to  suffer 
thereby  the  loss  of  all  things  which  make  life  worth 
having?  This  is  no  exaggeration.    What  has  happened 
once  may  happen  again.    These  miscreants  got  off  scot- 
free,  having  escaped  even  the  annoyance  of  an  inquiry 
There  is  no  doubt  that,  as  a  sensible  man  in  Nov'a 
Scotia  told  me.  who  was  also  a  godly  minister,  and 
knew  the  country  well.  "There  is  no  doubt  that  im- 
morality  has    in   this    case   obtained    a   terrible   and 
tremendous  victory." 

It  iu(ch  concents  the  ivomen  of  Canada  to  exert 
themselves  to  prevent  the  possible  recurrence  of  such 
proceedings  by  doing  all  they  can  to  have  a  voice  in 


!      i 


F76 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


*  -11 


the  election  of  those  who  make  as  well  as  of  those 
who  administp:r  the  laws  of  the  country;  that 
those  laws  shall  no  longer  be  made  the  "  ministers 
of  St f!,"  und  by  judicial  injustice  and  audacious  mal- 
administration ACTUALLY  BE  MADE  a  PROTECTION  to 
CRIMINALS. 

The  burning  of  the  Big  Mouse  at  the  Hillfoot  Farm 
was  a  terrible  means  taken  to  " ^it  rid  of"  an  incon- 
venient person,  who  was  "so  peculiar"  as  to  tell  the 
truth.  That  a  well-known  and  highly  respected  resi- 
dent (actually  a  man)  in  Annapolis  Royal  told  me, 
"  We  were  thankful  when  this  trouble  came  to  you,, 
for  we  felt  that  now  it  must  come  out;  that  you  would 
TELL  THE  TRUTH  ;  the  only  person  in  the  Annapolis 
Valley  who  would  be  likely  to  do  so."  Yet,  dear  sis- 
ters, \{  you  likewise  tell  the  /ruth,i\\Q  .same  faio  may 
soon  overtake  you.  And  if  by  means  of  this  strange 
story  you  are  aroused  to  greater  zeal  and  activity  in 
your  own  defence  for  the  protection  of  youi  Homes, 
your  young  girls,  and  your  dear  little  children  ;  if  you 
can  really  see  sin  as  it  is,  and  your  danger  as  'T  is, 
looked  at  in  the  light  of  the  flames  of  that  burning- 
house,  I  will  almost  feel  reconciled  to  my  share  in  the 
transaction,  and  will  thank  God  that  we  have  not 
suffered  in  vain  nor  laboured  in  vain. 

That  I  have  been  in  no  hurry  to  ventilate  my  griev- 
ances is  partly  due  to  the  physical  suffering  I  have  had 
to  r  o,  which  for  a  time  made  much  writing  im- 


A  STRANGE  TALE  OF  EVANGELINE^ S  LAND.  ,77 
possible;  partly  to  the  fact  that  the  Dominion  Gov- 
ernment, to  whom  I  appl.ed  for  protection,  promised 
that  if  [would  be  quiet  for  a  certain  length  of  time 
(welinigh  a  year  after  I  aske<l  for  help),  they  would  do 
all  they  could  to  protect  me  and  my  property  by 
having  a  fresh  trial  and  full  investigation. 

They  ended  by  doing  just  nothing.  I  have  won- 
dered whether  the  required  promised  of  silence  and 
so  long  delay  were  not  merely  a  neat  arrangement  to 
cover  up  the  whole  matter  ? 

To  give  them  the  chance  of  doing  right  I  kept 
silence  for  a  long  time.  I  now  feel  it  right  to  speak 
for  my  own  sake,  for  the  sake  of  the  women  of  Can- 
ada; yes,  for  the  sake  of  women  evkrywhkkk,  I 
think  it  right  to  let  these  facts  be  known. 

Thus  I  have  told  briefly  and  plainly  this  strange 
tale  of  Evangeline's  Land. 


:4 


PART    V. 


HAPPY   RESULTS. 


179 


CHAPTER    XX. 


HAPPY    RESULTS. 

1  HOPE  that  lio  one  who  is  wishing  to  work  for  God 
will  be  discouraged  by  the  story  of  persecution  con- 
tained in  the  foregoing  pages ;  and  to  remove  this  im- 
pression I  am  about  to  tell  you  how  bountifully  the 
Lord  has  provided  for  us.     After  the  events  described 
in  the  last  chapter  I  was  as  heavily  laden  with  care 
and  suffering  as  it  was  almost  possible  for  anyone  to 
be— with  20  children  below  12  years  old  to  provide 
for,  without  a  shred  remaining  of  personal  property. 
Homeless,  as  it  was  obviously  dangerous  to  return  to 
my  farm,  which  had  latterly  been  our  chief  means  of 
subsistence,  and  which  (unless  the  Dominion  Gnvnn- 
ment  would  protect  me)   I   had  only  the  prospert  of 
selling  at  a  disadvantage;  worst  of  all,  my  own  health 
so  injured  by  the  agony  of  inhaling  dense  smoke  and 
overheated  air  that  my  powers  of  breathing  were  well- 
nigh  exhausted.     Surely  I  was  as  helpless  (many  peo- 
ple would   have  said  as  hopeless)  a  creature  as  you 
could  find.     Yet,  helpless   and   almost   hopeless  as  I 
sometimes  felt.  I  mnld  ....  ,..-.k  David,  "  The  God  of 

we  not  fear!"  and 


say 


Jacob  is  our  refuge;  therefore  wii 


l82 


OUR   CHILDREN. 


as  it  turned  out,  the  very  extren.ity  of  my  distress 
brou<;ht  me  into  the  right  way,  which  was  to  lead  us 
out  into  a  wealthy  place.  When  I  had  provided  for 
the  children  in  safer  parts  of  the  country,  T  decided  to 
try  to  find  a  refuge  among  the  Quakers  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, remembering  the  words  of  good  William  Penn, 
that  "  This  colony"  (as  it  was  in  his  day)  "  should  be 
kept  as  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed  of  all  countries." 
So  I  came  to  Philadelphia  from  Montreal  one  terribly 
hot  Jay  in  August,  1895,  with  the  one  little  boy  I 
could  manage  to  keep  with  me — the  same  who  saved 
so  many  from  the  fire  that  awful  night!  There  had 
been  some  correspondence  with  the  Dominion  Govern- 
ment, which  ended  in  my  going  back  to  Ottawa  and 
giving  evidence  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  redress.  It 
ended  in  NOTHING.  There  I  became  so  ill  on  the 
approach  of  cold  weather  (owing  to  the  injuries  of  the 
fire)  that  I  was  told  by  the  doctor  I  would  certainly 
die  unless  I  went  to  Florida  for  the  winter,  which  we 
accordingly  did.  I  think  surely  the  angel  went  with 
us,  for  everyone  was  very  kind  to  us,  and  helped  us 
as  far  as  they  could.  Up  to  that  time  I  had  a  hope  of 
go»ng  back  to  our  old  home  in  Nova  Scotia,  but  just 
then  <5irc#in stances  began  to  point  the  other  way.  I 
felt  very  .sad,  far  from  strong,  money  becoming  scarce, 
and  tlie  »ca*o^  for  returning  North  near  at  hand.     A 


m 


inijtc<  and  \\n  w^  were  filled  witli 


compassion 
iw.    Oik  day  sht  m»A  Pj  nii.*,  "  We  are  §0  concern 


for 


ed 


IIArrv  RESULTS, 


i«3 


>» 


about  you.  Where  will  you  \^o  ?"  I  replied,  **  I  don't 
know,  but  God  takes  care  of  all  who  i)ut  their  trust  in 
Him."  It  was  literally  AI  L  I  had  to  trust  to.  My 
friend  went  on  to  say,  "  There  are  some  people  here 
who  I  think  might  help  you  to  a  home  in  Pennsylva- 
nia," and  directed  me  to  a  house  near  at  hand.  I  was 
most  kindly  received,  and  heard  from  these  friends  of 
the  beautiful  home,  which  seemed  to  have  been  waiting 
for  us,  as  it  had  stood  empty  nearly  20  years.  When 
I  went  to  see  it  I  was  amazed  to  find  a  most  comfort- 
able house  in  excellent  repair,  and  only  needing  to  be 
swept  and  garnished  to  make  it  fit  for  the  habitation 
even  of  fastidious  people.  It  almost  took  away  my 
breath.  I  had  asked  for  shelter  and  here  was  a  man- 
sion! So  Willie  and  I  went  and  lived  alone  there 
that  first  summer,  with  such  help  as  we  could  get, 
alone  in  the  empty  house.  By-and-by  our  numbers 
increased ;  again  they  have  been  diminished  by  boys 
and  girls  growing  older  and  going  to  other  schools, 
only  coming  home  at  intervals. 

We  are  very  happy  there.  It  Is  a  beautiful  place 
with  its  grassy  lawn,  sloping  terraces,  and  fine  old 
trees. 

We  have  few  children  nowadays,  so  we  make 
up  by  having  lots  of  animals.  Everything  clud  III 
furs  and  feathers  thrives  with  us,  and  we  have  even 
now  rescued  quite  a  number  of  waifs  and  strays. 

We  have  many  kind  friends  jn  .Coa)tesvi))e  ^^d  the 


i84 


OLfR    CHILDREN, 


neighbourhood,  and  a  much  greater'  prospect  of 
worldly  prosperity  than  we  could  have  had  in  Nova 
Scotia. 

This  happy  deliverance  from  all  our  troubles  should, 
I  think,  be  a  great  encouragement  to  every  tried 
worker  in  God's  vineyard.  May  He  enable  us  all  to 
say,  "  The  Lord  is  my  Helper.  I  will  not  fear  what 
man  can  do  unto  me." 


THE   END. 


:t   of 
STova 

3uld, 
tried 
11  to 
vhat 


